Annexes to COM(2021)188 - EU Taxonomy, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Preferences and Fiduciary Duties: Directing finance towards the European Green Deal

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dossier COM(2021)188 - EU Taxonomy, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Preferences and Fiduciary Duties: Directing finance towards ...
document COM(2021)188 EN
date April 21, 2021
Agreement and other environmental goals. The appetite for sustainable products in international markets is also growing, offering more opportunities for sustainable investments. Global convergence of standards is essential to avoid fragmented markets and enable cross-border investments to help achieve the global climate and environmental goals. The EU remains committed to playing a leading role in strengthening worldwide cooperation through the International Platform on Sustainable Finance and other international fora such as the G20 and G7.

The updated Sustainable Finance Strategy to be adopted by the Commission in June 2021 will further set out how sustainable finance will foster the transition to a sustainable and climate-neutral economy.

(1)

Share of EU domiciled companies with more than 500 employees active in economic sectors covered by the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act (Source: Bloomberg).

(2)

Source: Eurostat.

(3)

Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13.

(4)

Commission Delegating Regulation supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives, see https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/sustainable-finance-taxonomy-regulation-eu-2020-852/amending-and-supplementary-acts/implementing-and-delegated-acts_en.

(5)

Proposal for a directive amending Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, as regards sustainable corporate reporting by certain undertakings, COM (2021) 189.

(6)

Article 9 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation specifies the following six environmental objectives: (a) climate change mitigation, (b) climate change adaptation, (c) the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, (d) the transition to a circular economy, (e) pollution prevention and control, and (f) the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

(7)

The Platform on sustainable finance was created by Article 20 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation. It is composed of experts from the private and public sector who advise the Commission on the further development of the EU Taxonomy.

(8)

 Commission sustainable finance website link .

(9)

Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17.

(10)

Commission Notice on Technical guidance on the application of ‘do no significant harm’ under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation, 2021/C 58/01, OJ C 58, 18.2.2021, p. 1.

(11)

Joint Research Centre, Technical assessment of nuclear energy with respect to the ‘do no significant harm’ criteria of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, March 2021. Available through the following link .

(12)

The Joint Research Centre report is divided into two parts: the first part focuses on the study of relevant environmental indicators on the ‘do no significant harm’ criteria on the entire nuclear life cycle and the second part focuses on the specific question related to waste that had been highlighted by the TEG. The report found that: “The analyses did not reveal any science-based evidence that nuclear energy does more harm to human health or to the environment than other electricity production technologies already included in the Taxonomy as activities supporting climate change mitigation.


(13)

Subject to the specific conditions in Annex III of the Commission Notice on Technical guidance on the application of ‘do no significant harm’ under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation.

(14)

  Platform on Sustainable Finance, Transition finance report, March 2021. Available through the following link .

(15)

Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector, OJ L 317, 9.12.2019, p. 1.

(16)

Communication from the Commission on a Capital Markets Union for people and businesses-new action plan, COM(2020) 590 final.

(17)

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 of 25 April 2016 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards organisational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purposes of that Directive, OJ L 87, 31.3.2017, p. 1.

(18)

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2359 of 21 September 2017 supplementing Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to information requirements and conduct of business rules applicable to the distribution of insurance-based investment products, OJ L 341, 20.12.2017, p. 8.