Climate Change Mitigation

Climate change mitigation is the first and most extensively developed objective of the EU Taxonomy. It covers economic activities that make a substantial contribution to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This objective is central to the European Union's commitment under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The Taxonomy Regulation identifies several pathways through which an activity can substantially contribute to climate change mitigation. These include generating, transmitting, storing, distributing, or using renewable energy; improving energy efficiency; increasing clean or climate-neutral mobility; switching to the use of sustainably sourced renewable materials; increasing the use of environmentally safe carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies; and strengthening land carbon sinks. Each pathway is accompanied by quantitative thresholds defined in the Climate Delegated Act of June 2021.

With approximately 70 economic activities covered across sectors such as energy, manufacturing, transport, buildings, and forestry, climate change mitigation represents the broadest and most mature objective in the Taxonomy. The technical screening criteria for these activities set specific performance benchmarks. For example, electricity generation must emit less than 100 gCO2e/kWh to qualify, while building renovation must achieve at least a 30 percent reduction in primary energy demand. These criteria are designed to identify activities at the frontier of environmental performance while remaining technologically feasible.

The 2025 simplification package proposed under the Omnibus initiative introduces streamlined reporting for smaller companies and simplifies the criteria for several mitigation-related activities. However, the fundamental performance thresholds remain intact, ensuring that only genuinely low-carbon activities qualify. Companies reporting under the CSRD must disclose what proportion of their turnover, capital expenditure, and operating expenditure is associated with taxonomy-aligned mitigation activities.