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.
Adopted in 2020, the Taxonomy Regulation defined environmentally sustainable activities to reduce the environmental impacts of businesses and investments. In 2021, the “Climate delegated act” introduced key performance indicators defined how buildings, construction, and related sectors could to make a ‘substantial contribution’ to mitigate climate change. However, these criteria fail to incentivise the use of low impact construction materials and do not cover a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper makes concrete proposals to amend the taxonomy climate mitigation criteria and ensure that investments marked as green are funding truly sustainable buildings.
Environmental experts urge substantial improvements to the controversial EU Taxonomy Act to ensure science-based criteria and preserve environmental integrity.
Environmental experts publish science-based Taxonomy and appeal to the investor community to use these new criteria instead.
BEUC, Birdlife, ECOS, T&E and WWF leave the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. NGOs claim the European Commission has interfered politically in the group, and acted against evidence despite its legal obligation to follow science-based advice.
Work to target European legislation, as well as European and international standards, on specific policy areas targeting the accelerated adoption of mass timber in construction
Members of the European Parliament's Environment and Economic Affairs committees have voted against including gas and nuclear energy in the EU Taxonomy. The vote is an encouraging step in the right direction to save the credibility of the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
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