Part 1 - The EU taxonomy
Because of covid-19, this seminar will be digital. We will split the seminar into two parts; part 1 will be on May 10th and part 2 on May 19th. In this half-day seminar the different speakers will discuss how their field may be affected by the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities.
Main content
"In order to meet the EU’s climate and energy targets for 2030 and reach the objectives of the European Green Deal, it is fundamental to direct investments towards sustainable projects and activities...
...The EU taxonomy is a classification system, establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities. The EU taxonomy is an important enabler to scale up sustainable investment and to implement the European Green Deal. Notably, by providing appropriate definitions to companies, investors and policymakers on which economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable, it is expected to create security for investors, protect private investors from greenwashing, help companies to plan the transition, mitigate market fragmentation and eventually help shift investments where they are most needed. " - European Commission
In this half-day seminar, the different speakers will discuss how their field may be affected by the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities. This is part 1 of the seminar. Part 2 can be found here.
Monday May 10th 14:15-15:45 - Part 1:
Berte-Elen Konow (UiB) - Sustainable finance and the EU taxonomy at a glance.
A short presentation of the background and scope of the Taxonomy Regulation, the main principles of how to decide whether an economic activity is regarded as environmentally sustainable and the link between the Taxonomy Regulation and the screening criteria.
Daniel Næsse (PwC) – A closer look at the taxonomy with regards to criterias of use, and its impact
The presentation will address how the technical criteria are formulated by way of examples relevant to the energy industry. Furthermore, the presentation will address the mechanisms that give the taxonomy an important impact to companies far beyond the ones that
actually have a reporting requirement, including new clarifications from the Commission in April 2021.
Grete Rusten, Department of Geography, University of Bergen - Will EU`s Taxonomy Regulation make the industry greener?
This presentation will critically discuss some potential impact (or lack of so) in triggering the industry in a greener direction. The factors that briefly will be discussed are for the first the way rebound effects outside and geographically far away from the company in question is not considered and means that things are not improving at all. Second, is the issue about replacement effects that leads to an increase in use of resources. Thirdly do this presentation address the way the taxonomy does not grasp variations of performance between different individual players within the same sector. Finally, this concerns the question about whether the taxonomy should act as an instrument to support the winners or alternatively compensate for market failure.
