EU Taxonomy enabling technologies

The latest report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is clear: the time for action is now. Limiting global warming will require major transitions in the energy sector. This will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, widespread electrification, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen). In an earlier report, the IPCC issued a dire warning: “Humaninduced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and is affecting the lives of billions of people around the world.” It is also an urgent call for accelerated action and rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU has acted by adopting ambitious climate goals. Still, sustainable finance falls significantly short of the investment needs required to realise the climate and environmental goals of the EU. The EU taxonomy will hopefully be a game changer, by not only directing private finance to truly environmentally sustainable activities and avoiding potential greenwashing but also accelerating the climate transition that we desperately need for our societies. In this race against climate change, it is of utmost importance to identify and consider all enablers and levers that could support our decarbonisation objectives.

We believe that technology has a role to play and should be rightly recognised in the EU taxonomy as a key enabler of both environmental protection and climate change mitigation. To ensure that the necessary investments occur over the next decades, we must give clear recognition to the crucial contribution of our technologies. These include: electrical equipment enabling the electrification and decarbonisation of end uses; energy efficient solutions optimising data centres; variable speed drives and motors treating water and waste more efficiently; equipment and solutions automating industrial processes. We must not loose sight of the massive investments in enabling technologies that are required in these sectors over the coming eight years to achieve a 55% greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2023.

Despite good progress, we believe the EU Taxonomy still does not adequately address the role enabling activities play in facilitating lasting and effective decarbonisation.

In our paper we share our thoughts on key areas that should be address as a top priority.

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