On June 18th, 2020, The European Commission announced that they welcomed the adoption of the Taxonomy Regulation by the European Parliament. The Taxonomy Regulation is a key piece of legislation that will boost private sector investment in green and sustainable projects and thus contribute to the European green Deal and enhance a more sustainable finance. 

Yesterday´s endorsement by the European Parliament follows the earlier adoption of the text by the Council on the 10th of June, 2020, and marks the final step of the adoption process of the political agreement that has been reached on the 17th of December, 2019, by co-legislators. 

The Taxonomy Regulation will be instrumental for the EU to reach the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050, by helping investors with the re-orientation of the investments they make towards more sustainable businesses and technologies. 

The creation of the world´s first “green list”, a classification system for sustainable economic activities, is one important implementation that is planned, aiming to create a common language for investors to use when investing in projects and economic activities with a substantial positive impact on the climate and the environment. 

Furthermore, the Commission has launched a call for applications, encouraging members of the Platform on Sustainable Finance to participate. It will be open during the next four weeks, until the 16th of July, 2020. This platform will be an advisory body composed of experts from the private and public sector. 

Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union comments: “The adoption of the Taxonomy Regulation today marks a milestone in our green agenda. It creates the world's first ever classification system of environmentally sustainable economic activities, which will give a real boost to sustainable investments. It also formally establishes the Platform on Sustainable Finance. This Platform will play a crucial role in the development of the EU Taxonomy and our sustainable finance strategy over the coming years.”

To view the full press release, please go to: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1112.