Taxonomy Alignment

Taxonomy alignment is the central yardstick of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (the EU Taxonomy). An economic activity is taxonomy-aligned only if it meets the technical screening criteria that apply to it. The first condition is taxonomy eligibility: the activity must be described in the Delegated Acts to the Taxonomy. Only once the criteria are fulfilled does eligibility turn into actual alignment.

Assessment follows three cumulative conditions set out in Art. 3 of the Taxonomy Regulation. First, the activity must make a substantial contribution to at least one of the six environmental objectives: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, water and marine resources, the circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. Second, it must do no significant harm (DNSH) to any of the remaining objectives. Third, it must comply with the minimum safeguards, which are based on the OECD Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

For companies subject to reporting, taxonomy alignment must be quantified and disclosed in the management report. The disclosed figures are the shares of taxonomy-aligned turnover, capital expenditure (CapEx) and operating expenditure (OpEx). These obligations arise from Art. 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation together with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 and are interlinked with the CSRD and the ESRS. The data is tagged in XHTML using the ESEF taxonomy and is subject to the assurance of the sustainability report.