ECOS suspends its activities in EU Platform on Sustainable Finance over harmful taxonomy proposal
ECOS and four other NGOs request the opening of a negotiation with the Commission to establish rules of governance in the Platform on Sustainable Finance. Official talks are needed to make sure political and individual interests do not overrule the scientific integrity of the EU taxonomy criteria.
The European Commission adopted yesterday a Climate Taxonomy Delegated Act [1] which considers industrial logging and tree burning for energy as ‘environmentally sustainable’. This goes against the clear scientific evidence provided by members of the Platform on Sustainable Finance, as well as its predecessor, the Technical Expert Group (TEG).
Following this announcement and having repeatedly voiced concerns on the political interference harming the credibility of the taxonomy [2], ECOS, WWF, Transport & Environment, BirdLife, and BEUC, have all decided to immediately suspend their activities as part of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, officially designated by the European Commission to help develop the Taxonomy Regulation’s implementing legislation.
Mathilde Crêpy, Senior Progamme Manager at ECOS, said:
The Delegated Act adopted yesterday includes substantial last-minute changes driven by politics, not science. Political interference in the process has turned sound environmental recommendations into a tool that could harm our planet. As long as industry lobbies keep holding this taxonomy hostage, it risks becoming a massive greenwashing instrument.
The draft Delegated Act adopted yesterday is in breach of Art. 19(1)(f) of the Taxonomy Regulation. It is not based on science, and ignores the recommendations of the Commission’s Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance.
ECOS has asked for a negotiation to be set up with the Commission to establish rules of governance to avoid further external influences that are contrary to scientific evidence, as required by the law.
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