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FAQTaxonomyEU

EU Taxonomy Regulation Six environmental objectives

Article 9 names . An aligned activity must substantially contribute to at least one and avoid significant harm to every other applicable objective.

This FAQ helps avoid mixing the objective list with activity-specific , delegated-act details, or unsupported sustainability claims.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
Jul 24, 2026
5 sections6 primary sources
Overview

Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 sets . The list defines what the Taxonomy protects. Taxonomy-eligible and status depend on the activity descriptions and criteria in the delegated acts. Start with the economic activity, select the objective for , and test against the other objectives.

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5 of 5 questions
Question 1

What are the six environmental objectives under the EU Taxonomy?

The below use Article 9's legal wording. Articles 10 to 15 explain what means for each objective, while Article 17 defines significant harm.

An activity is aligned only if all four Article 3 conditions are met: to one or more objectives, no significant harm to the other objectives, compliance with minimum safeguards, and compliance with the applicable .

  • Climate change mitigation.
  • Climate change adaptation.
  • The sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources.
  • The transition to a circular economy.
  • Pollution prevention and control.
  • The protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Question 2

What does each objective cover?

Articles 10 to 15 give each objective a distinct legal scope. Use those articles to understand the objective, then use the delegated act for the activity-specific threshold or condition.

  • Climate change mitigation covers avoiding or reducing greenhouse-gas emissions or increasing removals, including listed routes such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean mobility, carbon capture, and carbon sinks.
  • Climate change adaptation covers solutions that substantially reduce current or expected future climate risk to the activity, people, nature, or assets without increasing risk elsewhere. An activity can also enable adaptation by others.
  • Water and marine resources covers good status of water bodies, preventing deterioration, sustainable water use, wastewater management, marine protection, and related ecosystem services.
  • Circular economy covers resource efficiency, durability, reparability, reuse, recycling, waste prevention, and keeping products, materials, and resources in use.
  • Pollution prevention and control covers preventing or reducing pollutant releases to air, water, or land, improving environmental quality, managing chemicals, and cleaning pollution without creating new significant harm.
  • Biodiversity and ecosystems covers protecting, conserving, and restoring ecosystems, habitats, species, soils, forests, and ecosystem services.
Question 3

How should teams use the objectives in an assessment?

Identify the economic activity and match it to a delegated-act activity description. A NACE code can help locate a section, but the activity description controls eligibility. If no delegated act covers the activity for an objective, a general environmental benefit does not make it Taxonomy-eligible for that objective.

For every claimed aligned amount, record the substantial-contribution objective, the activity-specific criteria, results for the other objectives, minimum safeguards, and the reporting period. Article 17 requires life-cycle impacts to be considered, while the delegated act states the evidence and thresholds for the specific activity.

  • Define the activity boundary, operator, site or asset, reporting period, and financial amount.
  • Match the activity description and delegated-act section for each potentially eligible objective.
  • Test every substantial-contribution and criterion; do not offset a failed DNSH test with a strong contribution to another objective.
  • Assess minimum safeguards for the undertaking carrying out the activity.
  • Keep unresolved criteria and unsupported amounts outside the aligned numerator.
Question 4

Which delegated acts relate to the six objectives?

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139, the Climate Delegated Act, contains for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Regulation (EU) 2022/1214 added specified gas and nuclear activities, and Regulation (EU) 2023/2485 added further climate activities.

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2486 is the Environmental Delegated Act for water and marine resources, circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and biodiversity and ecosystems. Regulation (EU) 2026/73 later amended disclosure rules and simplified certain criteria. Use the consolidated text applicable to the reporting period.

  • Climate objectives: climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation.
  • Non-climate objectives: water and marine resources, circular economy, pollution prevention and control, biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • can differ even where activity descriptions look similar across delegated acts.
  • Commission FAQ material is useful for interpretation, but the underlying regulation and delegated acts remain the sources to cite for criteria.
Question 5

What evidence should teams keep for the objective mapping?

Keep evidence that traces the activity to its substantial-contribution objective, delegated-act section, checks, safeguards conclusion, and reported amount. A general sustainability narrative cannot replace the activity-specific criteria.

If one activity substantially contributes to more than one objective, preserve the objective-level assessment but avoid double-counting the same turnover, CapEx, or OpEx in the summary KPI. The reporting templates and instructions applicable to the reporting period control presentation.

  • Activity description and boundary used for the assessment.
  • Article 9 objective or objectives selected for substantial-contribution review.
  • Delegated-act section and used.
  • evidence for the other Article 9 objectives.
  • Minimum-safeguards evidence or unresolved-safeguards note.
  • Disclosure or public-claim text that depends on the assessment.
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Primary sources

References and citations

Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (Taxonomy Regulation)
eur-lex.europa.eu5 citations
Referenced sections
  • Primary source for the six objectives, alignment conditions, Article 8 disclosures, DNSH, minimum safeguards, and screening-criteria requirements.
  • Articles 9 to 17 define the objectives, substantial-contribution routes, and significant harm; Article 3 sets the cumulative alignment conditions.
  • Articles 10 to 15 define substantial contribution for each objective; Article 17 defines significant harm with life-cycle impacts in view.
Show 2 more
  • Articles 3, 17, and 18 establish the cumulative alignment, DNSH, life-cycle, and minimum-safeguards requirements.
  • Articles 8 and 19 connect disclosures to aligned activities and require screening criteria that support verification and consider life-cycle impacts.
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/73
eur-lex.europa.eu3 citations
Referenced sections
  • Current amendment affecting disclosure templates and specified DNSH criteria.
  • Binding 2026 amendment to disclosure rules and specified DNSH criteria in the Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts.
  • Current template instructions for objective breakdowns and avoiding double-counting in summary KPIs.
Frequently asked questions on the EU taxonomy
finance.ec.europa.eu2 citations
Referenced sections
  • European Commission FAQ hub for technical clarifications on delegated acts, DNSH, and reporting.
  • Commission FAQ hub for official notices on the Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts, DNSH, and reporting.

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