EU Taxonomy Regulation: Commission Publishes Draft Environmental Delegated Act
The European Commission has approved in principle two draft delegated regulations under the EU Taxonomy Regulation:
Environmental Delegated Act – setting out the technical screening criteria (TSC) for economic activities making a substantial contribution to the non-climate environmental objectives under the Taxonomy Regulation:
- sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources (Article 1 and Annex I)
- transition to a circular economy (Article 2 and Annex II);
- pollution prevention and control (Article 3 and Annex III); and
- protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem (Article 4 Annex IV).
The draft Environmental Delegated Act also:
- specifies criteria for determining whether those economic activities cause significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives; and
- amends the existing Disclosures Delegated Act to ensure that its disclosure requirements are consistent with the Environmental Delegated Act.
Delegated Act amending the Climate Delegated Act – amending the existing Climate Delegated Act which sets out the TSC for economic activities making a substantial contribution to the climate environmental objectives under the Taxonomy Regulation (climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation). The amendments set the TSC for additional economic activities, in particular in the manufacturing and transport sectors.
The draft Delegated Acts will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for scrutiny (a four month period which can be extended by two months). If there are no objections, the Delegated Acts will apply from January 2024.
https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/sustainable-finance-package-2023_en