About: Taxonomy Archives

As policymakers turn their attention to the economic recovery post-COVID, there is a risk that investments in a green recovery may be side-lined.

Reporting on greenhouse gas emissions should become mandatory "as soon as possible" for companies with more than 250 employees, argues Michèle Lacroix, an EU expert who helped design the EU's landmark green finance taxonomy.

The EU economic recovery plan presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 27 May will also be based on the so-called taxonomy which gives priority to sectors in the field of low-carbon transition. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Union's proposed €750 billion fund to help the bloc recover from the coronavirus crisis will have green strings attached, with 25% of all funding set aside for climate action, the European Commission has said.

EU policymakers are promoting a green recovery. A public-private agency rating companies’ climate performance would help keep it on track, argue Steven Tebbe and Laurent Babikian.

While there is strong claimed support for a 'green' recovery from the European Commission, the European Parliament and key member states like Germany, the devil is in the detail, write Doreen Fedrigo and Camille Maury.

Carbon dioxide emission limits in the EU taxonomy suggested by the technical expert group are too high and will make it virtually impossible to reach EU climate goals for 2030 and 2050, argues a group of Swedish lawmakers.

The Netherlands has floated proposals to ensure a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, suggesting an “exclusion list” of economic activities like nuclear power, which the Dutch believe should be banned from receiving EU funds.

If, like Cicero wrote, the sinews of war are infinite money, let’s make sure the funds are being used for the right battles, write Brook Riley and Peter Sweatman.

European policymakers should use a two-tier approach to define sustainable investments in order to smooth the bloc's transition to a low carbon economy, a group of industry experts has said.

The European Commission launched on Wednesday (6 February) a consultation with member states, the European Parliament and other stakeholders to review the EU's fiscal rules, the Stability and Growth Pact.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have approved a compromise on the EU’s proposed sustainable finance rulebook, ending a bitter fight with EU member states on whether to recognise nuclear power as “green”.

With Germany’s dwindling leadership on climate, Britain’s departure from the European Union could have “potentially huge” consequences for climate policy, says Sandrine Dixson-Declève.

Led by France and Britain, EU states yesterday (11 December) blocked a set of new rules governing which financial products can be called "green" and "sustainable", fearing it would prevent investments in nuclear and gas projects.

As negotiators in Madrid are trying to break the impasse on global climate finance governance, tectonic shifts in the real economy are signaling changing tides for the oil & gas industry. Far from being separate adjustments, these changes are part of a one, large movement where Europe is at the fore-front. MEP Bas Eickhout explained to EURACTIV why.

European Greens claimed victory on Thursday (5 December) after EU negotiators reached agreement on a green finance taxonomy aimed at channelling billions of private investor’s money into clean technologies. Coal, and – in principle – nuclear power, are out.

MEPs and the Finnish presidency of the EU Council agreed Thursday (5 December) on a taxonomy to determine what economic activities can be considered ‘green’, paving the way for billions of euros to be channelled into investments to fight climate change.

Europe wants to use all the tools available to transit toward a 'green' economy. But ‘green’ lending should not be incentivised by easing capital requirements for banks, the European Banking Authority chief, Jose Manuel Campa, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Disagreement on the inclusion of nuclear power in the EU’s upcoming green finance taxonomy has revived long-standing divisions between France and Germany over the energy transition. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Commission has attempted to define “transition” and “enabling” economic activities on the way to net-zero emissions as part of efforts to reach compromise on a draft EU green finance taxonomy.

Growing competition from cheap renewable electricity, safety concerns, and rising costs of new plants are slowly driving nuclear power over the edge – except in Russia and China where the industry continues to enjoy extensive state support, S&P said.

The European Investment Bank will decide on Thursday (14 November) whether or not to purge its loan books of fossil fuel projects. All signs point to the EU lender striking a compromise with Germany and Italy which want more leeway for new gas projects.

Despite an explosion in green finance, banks have made only superficial changes to their lending practices, with fossil fuel funding going virtually unabated over the past years, according to a new report by Boston Common Asset Management released today (11 November).

Bioenergies, including wood, biofuels and forest-based industries, should be recognised under the EU’s draft sustainable finance taxonomy, in line with the recently-updated renewable energy directive, an industry coalition has claimed.