Why does the EU Taxonomy miss the mark on construction?
The EU Taxonomy Regulation defines environmentally sustainable activities and introduces key performance indicators (KPIs) for buildings and construction to make a ‘substantial contribution’ to mitigate climate change. These KPIs however do not incentivise low-impact construction materials and therefore fail to cover a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions in the construction sector.
Building on policy developments construction sector emissions regulation initiated in 2023, there is now a unique opportunity for the taxonomy to accelerate construction sector action on whole life carbon emissions. The current climate taxonomy criteria are lagging but they could support early adoption of climate impacts calculation and disclosure of buildings and their construction materials.
The EU taxonomy: What is it, how does it work, who does it apply to?
In our paper we explain the EU Taxonomy Regulation, its various Delegated Acts, and the important policy context in which it was first created and where it sits now. We include workable proposals to amend the taxonomy climate mitigation criteria, ensuring that they will facilitate decarbonisation measures by adequately covering new buildings, include whole life carbon emissions, and more!
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