EU Taxonomy Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of 18 June 2020 establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment ('the Taxonomy Regulation'). The Taxonomy Regulation entered into force on 12 July 2020 and is the cornerstone of the EU sustainable finance legislative framework alongside SFDR (Regulation (EU) 2019/2088) and CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464). It creates a unified EU classification system - the 'Taxonomy' - for environmentally sustainable economic activities. An economic activity qualifies as environmentally sustainable under Article 3 if it: (a) makes a substantial contribution to one or more of the six environmental objectives in Article 9 + Articles 10-15; (b) does not significantly harm any of the other objectives (the DNSH test in Article 17); (c) is carried out in compliance with the minimum safeguards laid down in Article 18 (OECD MNE Guidelines + UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights + ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work + the International Bill of Human Rights); and (d) complies with the technical screening criteria established by the Commission Delegated Acts under Article 19. The six environmental objectives (Article 9) are: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; transition to a circular economy; pollution prevention and control; protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. The Commission Delegated Regulations operationalising the technical screening criteria are: (EU) 2021/2139 (Climate Delegated Act, climate change mitigation + adaptation TSC for 13 economic-activity sectors); (EU) 2023/2486 (Environmental Delegated Act, TSC for the four non-climate environmental objectives); (EU) 2021/2178 (Disclosures Delegated Act, the Article 8 KPI disclosure templates for turnover + CapEx + OpEx alignment); (EU) 2022/1214 (Gas + Nuclear Complementary Climate Delegated Act adding specific gas + nuclear activities to the climate objectives under defined conditions). Article 8 imposes the Taxonomy KPI disclosure obligation on undertakings within the scope of NFRD / CSRD: non-financial undertakings disclose the % of turnover + CapEx + OpEx aligned with the Taxonomy; financial undertakings disclose the Green Asset Ratio (GAR) for credit institutions + insurance KPI for insurance undertakings.
EU Taxonomy Regulation is a compliance framework from European Union with 8 domains and 16 controls that map to 2 other frameworks. The largest domains are Taxonomy: Articles 20-27 Platform, Competent Authorities, Penalties, Review and Final (4 controls), Taxonomy: Articles 10-15 Six Environmental Objectives and Substantial Contribution (3 controls), Taxonomy: Articles 16-18 Enabling Activities, DNSH and Minimum Safeguards (3 controls). Every control below carries what it requires and what an assessor expects to see.
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Framework Domains (8)
Taxonomy: Article 19 Technical Screening Criteria and Commission Delegated Acts
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.19_19a | Technical screening criteria + Commission Delegated Acts (Taxonomy Article 19 + 19a) |
Taxonomy: Article 3 Criteria for Environmentally Sustainable Economic Activities
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.3 | Criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities (Taxonomy Article 3) |
| TAXO-Art.4 | Use of the criteria in public measures, standards and labels (Taxonomy Article 4) |
Taxonomy: Article 8 Disclosure by Financial and Non-Financial Undertakings (KPI Regime)
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.8 | Disclosure by financial and non-financial undertakings (Taxonomy Article 8) - the KPI regime |
Taxonomy: Articles 10-15 Six Environmental Objectives and Substantial Contribution
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.10_11 | Substantial contribution to climate change mitigation + adaptation (Taxonomy Articles 10 and 11) |
| TAXO-Art.12_13_14_15 | Substantial contribution to water + circular economy + pollution prevention + biodiversity (Taxonomy Articles 12-15) |
| TAXO-Art.9 | Six environmental objectives (Taxonomy Article 9) |
Taxonomy: Articles 16-18 Enabling Activities, DNSH and Minimum Safeguards
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.16 | Enabling activities (Taxonomy Article 16) |
| TAXO-Art.17 | Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) (Taxonomy Article 17) |
| TAXO-Art.18 | Minimum safeguards (Taxonomy Article 18) - OECD MNE + UN Guiding Principles + ILO + IBHR |
Taxonomy: Articles 20-27 Platform, Competent Authorities, Penalties, Review and Final
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.20 | Platform on Sustainable Finance (Taxonomy Article 20) |
| TAXO-Art.21_22_23 | Competent authorities + measures + amendments to other EU acts (Taxonomy Articles 21-23) |
| TAXO-Art.25_26_27 | Review + entry into force (Taxonomy Articles 25, 26, 27) |
| TAXO-Status | EU Taxonomy status - in force pending simplification omnibus + Social Taxonomy decisions |
Taxonomy: Articles 5-7 Pre-Contractual Disclosure and SFDR Integration
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.5_6_7 | Pre-contractual disclosure (Taxonomy Articles 5-7) - SFDR Article 8 / 9 product Taxonomy alignment + Article 7 negative statement |
Taxonomy: Subject Matter, Scope and Definitions
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| TAXO-Art.1_2 | Subject matter, scope and definitions (Taxonomy Articles 1-2) |
Maps to 2 other frameworks
What is EU Taxonomy Regulation and who does it apply to?
EU Taxonomy Regulation is a compliance framework from European Union with 8 domains and 16 controls. Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of 18 June 2020 establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment ('the Taxonomy Regulation'). The Taxonomy Regulation entered into force on 12 July 2020 and is the cornerstone of the EU sustainable finance legislative framework alongside SFDR (Regulation (EU) 2019/2088) and CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464). It creates a unified EU classification system - the 'Taxonomy' - for environmentally sustainable economic activities. An economic activity qualifies as environmentally sustainable under Article 3 if it: (a) makes a substantial contribution to one or more of the six environmental objectives in Article 9 + Articles 10-15; (b) does not significantly harm any of the other objectives (the DNSH test in Article 17); (c) is carried out in compliance with the minimum safeguards laid down in Article 18 (OECD MNE Guidelines + UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights + ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work + the International Bill of Human Rights); and (d) complies with the technical screening criteria established by the Commission Delegated Acts under Article 19. The six environmental objectives (Article 9) are: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; transition to a circular economy; pollution prevention and control; protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. The Commission Delegated Regulations operationalising the technical screening criteria are: (EU) 2021/2139 (Climate Delegated Act, climate change mitigation + adaptation TSC for 13 economic-activity sectors); (EU) 2023/2486 (Environmental Delegated Act, TSC for the four non-climate environmental objectives); (EU) 2021/2178 (Disclosures Delegated Act, the Article 8 KPI disclosure templates for turnover + CapEx + OpEx alignment); (EU) 2022/1214 (Gas + Nuclear Complementary Climate Delegated Act adding specific gas + nuclear activities to the climate objectives under defined conditions). Article 8 imposes the Taxonomy KPI disclosure obligation on undertakings within the scope of NFRD / CSRD: non-financial undertakings disclose the % of turnover + CapEx + OpEx aligned with the Taxonomy; financial undertakings disclose the Green Asset Ratio (GAR) for credit institutions + insurance KPI for insurance undertakings. It is used by organisations to establish and maintain compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
What does EU Taxonomy Regulation actually require?
EU Taxonomy Regulation has 16 controls organised across 8 domains. The largest domains are Taxonomy: Articles 20-27 Platform, Competent Authorities, Penalties, Review and Final (4 controls), Taxonomy: Articles 10-15 Six Environmental Objectives and Substantial Contribution (3 controls), Taxonomy: Articles 16-18 Enabling Activities, DNSH and Minimum Safeguards (3 controls). Each control defines specific requirements that organisations must implement to achieve compliance.
If I already comply with another framework, how much of EU Taxonomy Regulation do I already cover?
EU Taxonomy Regulation maps to 2 other compliance frameworks. The top mapping partners are EU SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) (25% coverage), CSRD (6% coverage). Use our comparison tool to explore control-level mappings between frameworks.
How do I implement EU Taxonomy Regulation?
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