In December 2023, new technical and construction-related criteria for circular economy (“Environmental Delegated Act”) under the Taxonomy for sustainable activities have entered into force.

These criteria have been applicable in the 27 Member States since 1st January 2024. The EU's sustainable finance agenda has achieved another important milestone with the entry into force of these new criteria.

FIEC welcomes the new circular economy criteria and the targeted amendments to the “Climate Delegated Act”. Continuous fine-tuning of the criteria based on the experience gained from their practical application will be essential to ensure the framework’s effectiveness and to mobilise much needed capital for sustainable construction activities in the coming years.

 Environmental Delegated Act crucial step towards sustainable investment in circular construction

The new Delegated Regulation 2023/2486, supplementing the 2020 Taxonomy Regulation and establishing technical screening and “Do No Significant Harm” criteria for construction and real estate activities under the environmental objective “Transition to a circular economy”, has been applicable since 1st January 2024 in all 27 Member States.

Commenting on the entry into force and application of the Environmental Delegated Act and the Delegated Regulation amending the Climate Delegated Act, Pekka Vuorinen, FIEC’s former representative in the Platform on Sustainable Finance, says:

“The entry into force of the new technical criteria is a crucial step towards more sustainable investment in the EU and towards circular and environmentally friendly construction. We thank the European Commission services involved in the EU taxonomy for the huge amount of work done since 2020. The new criteria are very demanding but more balanced than the draft criteria in the 2022 recommendations of the Platform on Sustainable Finance. If we get the application of the Environmental Delegated and Climate Delegated Act right, the EU taxonomy has the potential to become a real game changer for the sustainable transition of the whole sector”.