The EU Taxonomy, a classification system, is an important market transparency tool that helps direct investments to activities most needed for the transition to net zero and environmental sustainability.
To address the challenges encountered by stakeholders in the first years of implementation, the Commission recently adopted a Delegated Act as part of the Sustainability Omnibus package, which will reduce the reporting burden for companies.To improve the usability of the Taxonomy and its market uptake, the Commission is also undertaking a comprehensive review of the Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts, with a view to simplify the technical screening criteria of all the activities included.
Companies
Companies continue to use the EU Taxonomy to plan and highlight their sustainable investments. On average, 22.7% of reporting companies’ capital investments[1]were aligned with the EU Taxonomy in 2024. The highest investments were made in the utilities sector, in particular by electricity providers (44% Taxonomy-aligned).
In 2024, capital investments into Taxonomy-aligned activities have been €273bn.[2] This brings the total to €742bn over the financial years 2022, 2023, and 2024.
For the financial year 2024, companies located in Germany have reported the highest Taxonomy-aligned investments (€80bn), followed by France (€51bn), Italy (€36bn) and Spain (€29bn).
Companies continue to see the Taxonomy as a valuable tool for long-term investments in the transition to a more sustainable economy. 90%of the total value of taxonomy-aligned capital investments in 2024 comes from companies (437) that reported some level of CapEx alignment in each of the past three years.
| Year | Taxonomy aligned capital expenditures (CapEx) | % aligned CapEx for companies with nonzero values for eligible and aligned CapEx | Number of companies with nonzero values for eligible and aligned CapEx | % aligned CapEx for companies with nonzero values for eligible CapEx | Number of companies with nonzero values for eligible CapEx | % of aligned CapEx out of total EU gross capital formation |
| 2022 | €191 billion | 27.14% | 581 | 19.20% | 1086 | 4.90% |
| 2023 | €278 billion | 30.21% | 718 | 22.50% | 1293 | 6.70% |
| 2024 | €273 billion | 31.03% | 659 | 22.70% | 1303 | 6.60% |
Source: Bloomberg, Orbis
Companies are using the Taxonomy to guide and showcase their capital investments in key sectors contributing to the Green Deal targets and more sustainable economic growth. The following bar charts show the taxonomy-aligned CapEx per sector (based on NACE sector classification) as a share of total reported aligned CapEx and the proportion of taxonomy-eligible versus aligned capital investments across these sectors.
In 2024, Taxonomy-aligned turnover reached a total of €825bn, corresponding to 11.2% of the total turnover of companies with non-zero taxonomy eligible turnover. Taxonomyaligned operating expenditures (OpEx) reached a total of €72bn, representing 15.3% of the total OpEx of companies with non-zero taxonomy eligible Opex.
Banks & financial markets
In 2024, the average Taxonomy-aligned Green Asset Ratio (GAR) was 2.8%, corresponding to €816bn out of approximately €28tn in total covered assets. This reflects an increase of over €140bn compared to 2023.
The amount of Taxonomy-eligible assets held by banks is growing overtime (from €1.7tn in 2022 to €7.4tn in 2024), driven by an increasing number of Taxonomy-eligible activities among their counterparties and investee companies.
In 2024, the average Taxonomy-aligned Green Investment Ratio (GIR) was 3%, corresponding to €229.5bn out of approximately €7.3tn of total covered assets.
They have also been holding an increasing amount of Taxonomy-eligible assets (from €214bn in 2022 to €534bn in 2024), driven by an increasing number of Taxonomy-eligible activities among their investments and/or investee companies.
Notes
1. These figures are based on the reporting by companies in the scope of the Non-financial Reporting Directive, estimated to be around 2200. This calculation considers companies reporting non-zero values for taxonomy eligible capital expenditures (CapEx).
2. The latest data are based on companies’ reporting for financial year 2024. The investment amount includes the EU as well as Norway, Switzerland and the UK.