What is the EU Taxonomy?
The EU Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/852) establishes a classification system defining when an economic activity qualifies as “environmentally sustainable” for the purposes of EU sustainable finance regulation. The Taxonomy enables capital markets to identify and channel investments toward genuinely sustainable activities, reducing greenwashing risk in financial product labelling.
Six environmental objectives
- 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.
Four-step alignment test
- Substantial contribution to one of the six objectives, per Technical Screening Criteria (Climate Delegated Act 2021, Environmental Delegated Act 2023, Complementary Delegated Acts).
- Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) to any of the other five objectives.
- Minimum social safeguards compliance (OECD MNE Guidelines, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ILO Core Conventions).
- Technical screening criteria met for the specific activity (eligible + aligned thresholds).
Mandatory disclosures
- Non-financial undertakings (CSRD scope): disclose Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy-aligned share of turnover, capex, and opex.
- Financial undertakings: Green Asset Ratio (GAR) for banks; aligned investment share for asset managers.
- SFDR Article 8 and 9 funds: Taxonomy-aligned share disclosure.
Türk şirketleri için
Türk ihracatçılar AB müşterilerinin Taksonomi-uyumlu tedarik baskısıyla karşılaşmaktadır — özellikle çelik, çimento, gübre, hidrojen, elektrik sektörleri (CBAM kapsamı ile çakışan). AB-iştiraki olan Türk büyük şirketleri için Taksonomi açıklaması CSRD raporunun parçası olarak zorunludur. Türkiye’nin kendi taksonomisi henüz yayınlanmamıştır; muhtemel ulusal taksonomi AB modeline yakın yapılandırılacaktır.
Do: map your revenues/capex against Taxonomy activity definitions; document substantial contribution and DNSH analyses; use the EU Taxonomy Compass for technical criteria.
Don’t: conflate “Taxonomy-eligible” with “Taxonomy-aligned” — eligibility is being in scope; alignment requires meeting all four conditions.