EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities: implications and prospects for the Agri-food industry To what extent are European Agri-food companies complying with the Taxonomy?

Abstract

Climate change is significantly and rapidly impacting the planet under many viewpoints, it is among the greatest threats of our generation and of generations to come, to public health, ecosystems, and the economy. In recent years the attention and interest of governments and countries have been redirected towards factors that trigger climate change and global warming, stimulating the widespread of a common consensus regarding the well-needed mitigation of risk factors related to climate change. At European level there has been a rapid evolution of the legal framework regarding the implementation of a new strategy in terms of sustainable finance. One of the most urgent actions taken by the European Commission is the creation of a classification system of economic activities aimed at redirecting investments towards a greener economy, namely the EU Taxonomy, which is at the core of this research. A shift of capital flows towards sustainable financial activities must be backed by a clear and common definition of what is in fact “sustainable” or “green”. The aim of this research is to go through the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities, analysing its objectives, pros and cons, benefits and limitations. Then, in the following sections we will go deeper into the European Agri-food sector and see to what extent the selected companies in that sector are complying with the EU Taxonomy and how much they are aligned with it. Further steps will be needed for the Taxonomy to be defined as complete but through some assumptions, we will analyse the compliance of these European agri-food companies with the objectives of the Taxonomy.