The EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities is a classification system that aims to define which economic activities are considered environmentally sustainable, helping guide investments toward activities that support the EU’s climate goals. It is part of the broader European Green Deal, which targets carbon neutrality in the European Union by 2050.
The aim of the EU Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/852) is to encourage investor confidence that investments will have the desired positive environmental impact. The Regulation does this by setting out six environmental objectives:
- climate change mitigation;
- climate change adaptation;
- sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources;
- transition to a circular economy;
- pollution prevention and control; and
- the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The technical screening criteria (TSC) are used to determine if an economic activity significantly contributes to the above objectives. The use of TSC ensure that the classification of activities as sustainable is based on objective and verifiable standards.
Aviation is recognised as a transitional sector under the EU Taxonomy, which refers to an industry that is particularly difficult to fully decarbonise in the short term due to technological or economic constraints but is still critical to the overall transition to a low-carbon economy. These sectors can make a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation through improvements in efficiency and reductions in emissions, even though they might not be able to achieve zero emissions immediately.
The TSC for the aviation sector are included in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2485. In order to support the European Commission and the industry in interpreting these criteria, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is providing technical assistance to the Commission for the effective implementation of the TSC. The document available for download on this page is aimed to provide clarification on the interpretation of various aspects of the TSC.