EU Taxonomy Compass

This EU Taxonomy Compass provides a visual representation of the contents of the EU Taxonomy, starting with the Delegated Act on the climate objectives (climate change mitigation (Annex I) and climate change adaptation (Annex II)), as published in the Official Journal on 9 December 2021. The Climate Delegated Act entered into application on 1 January 2022. The EU Taxonomy Compass also includes the contents of the Complementary Delegated Act, as published in the Official Journal on 15 July 2022. The Complementary Delegated Act will enter into application on 1 January 2023.

Looking forward, the EU Taxonomy Compass will be updated to include future delegated acts specifying technical screening criteria for additional economic activities substantially contributing to the climate objectives and the other environmental objectives of the Taxonomy Regulation. It will also reflect reviews of the delegated acts in the future. For more information about the EU Taxonomy and the EU Taxonomy delegated acts, please refer to the main page on the EU Taxonomy.

The EU Taxonomy Compass aims to make the contents of the EU Taxonomy easier to access for a variety of users. It enables users to check which activities are included in the EU Taxonomy (taxonomy-eligible activities), to which objectives they substantially contribute and what criteria they have to meet. It is important to note that minimum safeguards (social standards) have to be met for an economic activity to be considered taxonomy-aligned. The EU Taxonomy Compass also aims to make it easier to integrate the criteria into business databases and other IT systems (see download options below).

How to use the EU Taxonomy Compass

This EU Taxonomy Compass can be used in various ways for the above-mentioned purpose. There are two main ways to access its contents:

• Through the tab “EU Taxonomy Compass”, you can see a matrix that displays the economic activities per environmental objective. The criteria for a given activity can be accessed by clicking on the activity name in the matrix or by clicking on the button for an activity-objective combination of interest. A little “E” or “T” indicates if the activity is an enabling or transitional activity (if meeting the criteria).
• Through the “Activities by sector” tab, you can check which economic activities for a given sector are considered taxonomy-relevant and view the technical screening criteria applicable to them. This second access route is useful if you want to browse a specific sector or activity.

Note that while climate change mitigation and adaptation cover broadly the same activities, there are some important differences between the two Annexes in the Climate Delegated Act catering for specificities for each objective. The Taxonomy Compass reproduces this content accordingly:

• Certain activities are included only for climate change mitigation and not for climate change adaptation, notably the activities “Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions” (8.2), “Research, development and innovation for direct air capture of CO2” (9.2) and “Professional services related to energy performance of buildings” (9.3.).
• Certain activities are included only for climate change adaptation and not for climate change mitigation, notably the activities “Computer programming, consultancy and related activities” (8.2), “Programming and broadcasting activities” (8.3), and “Engineering activities and related technical consultancy dedicated to adaptation to climate change” (9.1). In addition, activities across the following sectors are only included for climate change adaptation: financial and insurance activities (10), education (11), human health and social work activities (12), as well as arts, entertainment and recreation (13).
• Certain activities are included in both Annexes, but differ in their scope, notably activities related to infrastructure for transport activities.

In addition, the descriptions of certain economic activities included in the Taxonomy Compass do not include a NACE code. This is because the economic activity does not fall under a specific NACE code. In any case, the NACE codes should only be understood as indicative and should not prevail over the specific definition of the activity provided in its description.