Project summary
The EU taxonomy for sustainable activities defines which economic activities are considered sustainable and can be financed within the EU, in order to redirect investments towards them. It classifies activities according to their impact on six environmental objectives. One of its criteria is the DNSH principle, “do not significant harm”: it stipulates that an action must not cause any significant harm to any of the objectives of the taxonomy.
Local authorities are not yet required to align their actions to the taxonomy regulation, but EU Managing Authorities must respect the DNSH as a horizontal principle in their 2021-2027 programmes, to ensure the sustainability of the actions supported.
In addition, considering the impact of their policies on their territories and the citizens’ expectations for stronger action to combat climate change, some regional public authorities wish to put climate commitment at the very heart of their policies.
GREENGOV’s aim is to help European Regions and local authorities, whatever their size, to understand the EU taxonomy, starting with the DNSH, and turn its implementation into an opportunity to improve the governance of their financing schemes.
GREENGOV’s 8 territorial partners, supported by a research centre, cover the 4 geographical zones of the Interreg Europe programme. 5 out of 8 partners are from developed regions, where green finance has been appropriated at the national level, one partner comes from a region in transition and 2 from less advanced regions. Their maturity on taxonomy and green finance mechanisms vary considerably, but they are all committed to support sustainability and pave the way for others.
They will exchange their experiences and best practices to establish a solid common guide on EU taxonomy, thus helping European local public authorities to adapt their strategies to the taxonomy and the green finance processes, to finance their projects in a more sustainable way and to improve their global governance.