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The Commission is also consulting on proposed targeted amendments to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and on the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 5 April 2023 the European Commission opened a consultation on its proposal for four additional environmental objectives under the EU Taxonomy Regulation[1] (the Taxonomy), including: (i) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; (ii) transition to a circular economy; (iii) pollution prevention and control; and (iv) protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Commission is seeking feedback on technical screening criteria (TSC) for economic activities that may substantially contribute to one or more of those four environmental objectives. The TSC do not only identify the technical requirements that an activity must meet to be considered to make a substantial contribution to one of these areas, they also specify the conditions by which the activities can be considered to not do any significant harm to the remaining areas.

The Commission has already adopted TSC related to the economic activities of two other environmental objectives: climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation.

The Commission is also proposing amendments to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act, introducing additional activities that may be considered to substantially contribute to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation, as well as the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.

As part of the European Green Deal ambitions, the proposal encourages sustainable consumption through additional incentives to repair products to reduce waste and emissions.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 22 March 2023, the European Commission (Commission) adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods (the Proposal). The Proposal seeks to deliver on the environmental targets outlined in the European Green Deal, specifically regarding sustainable consumption, by increasing consumer incentives to repair products rather than replace them, especially after a product’s legal guarantee under the EU’s Sale of Goods Directive has expired. The Proposal will therefore aim to create growth in the market for refurbished products, furthering the Green Deal ambition of promoting a circular economy.

The Glasgow conference was praised as a huge step forward in tackling climate change, but also drew criticism for not going far enough.

By Jean-Philippe Brisson, Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

Between 31 October and 12 November 2021, Glasgow hosted the 26th annual Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held under the presidency of the UK. Governments, corporations, academics, social groups, and other members of civil society converged with the aim of working together at the international level to tackle climate change.

The guidance offers clarification on key aspects of the TCFD’s recommendations on climate reporting.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 14 October 2021, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released a new guidance document on climate-related metrics, targets, and transition plans (the Guidance). The Guidance seeks to support organisations that make TCFD-aligned disclosures in preparing decision-useful metrics, targets, and transition plan information and linking that information to estimates of financial impact. The Guidance builds on a consultation paper on the same topic that the TCFD released in June 2021.