The tool replicates the EU taxonomy in parts not harmful to the environment and proposes alternative criteria to follow for sections considered unsustainable
Observatory against greenwashing launches its independent taxonomy regulation
Red light for criteria that are not sustainable according to the latest climate science. Yellow light for those that should be reviewed or used with caution. Green light for non-warming provisions. And a list of alternative criteria to use. This is how the independent green taxonomy regulation presented by Observatory against greenwashing, a coalition of environmental NGOs including Legambiente, Transport & Environment, WWF, Birdlife.
A tool with which to correct the green ue taxonomy launched by Brussels last year, which includes gas and nuclear. 1 in 3 activities, among those labeled as green, actually harms the climate and the environment.
“Our project stems from the inability of the European institutions to establish a scientific taxonomy regulation of eco-sustainable activities”, reads greenwashed, the website that houses the compass for green investments alternative to the official one. “The taxonomy based on science aims to provide businesses and investors with an assessment of environmental sustainability based on scientific data and without lobbying“, continue NGOs.
The mistakes of Brussels
What is the eu taxonomy regulation? The long tug-of-war on green taxonomy regulation, in fact, ended with the decision to include fossil gas and energy from the atom in the list of investments considered sustainable by the EU, which can therefore access particularly favorable conditions. This is despite the contrary opinions of some consultative bodies intervening during the legislative process, many MEPs and even several EU governments.
A choice that, according to ecological associations and not only, completely distorts the project of green ue taxonomy. Which can now no longer be presented as the global standard it wanted to become, but rather as a tool with little ambition that will bind the continent to decades of exploitation of fossil fuels.
An independent green taxonomy in evolution
“The EU’s taxonomy was originally designed to combat greenwashing, but has instead become another tool to deceive consumers,” explains Luca Bonaccorsi, T&E’s Director of Sustainable Finance. “One in three activities that the EU has labeled as green is harmful to the planet. This is not enough. We need a better taxonomy, based on science. Now the investor community has it”.
Read also Green taxonomy, 5 NGOs: “Political interference from Brussels”
Independent green ue taxonomy will continue to evolve in the near future. “This is just a first step. In the future, independent science-based taxonomy will also provide additional criteria to help the market anticipate future taxonomy updates and link taxonomy with industry-specific 2050 decarbonization pathways available and with contributions to biodiversity, pollution prevention, water protection and the circular economy”, says a spokesperson for Observatory against greenwashing.
