On 18 December 2020, Cerame-Unie submitted its response to the European Commission public consultations on the first delegated act of the Sustainable Finance Regulation (i.e. Taxonomy Regulation), establishing the economic sectors and activities which can qualify as sustainable in the light of climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives (art. 9 of the Taxonomy Regulation), and hence be eligible for sustainable financing.
The delegated act identifies technical screening criteria and do-no-significant-harm metrics for eligible sectors; the European Ceramic Industry has been included in the set of economic activities manufacturing energy-efficiency products for the building sector and of other low-carbon technologies contributing to both Taxonomy objectives, thus (partially) having been recognised as a key sector for contributing to climate action and environmental objectives.
However, the potential of the European Ceramic Industry to boost decarbonisation across EU sectors and for reducing environmental impacts in other activities, go well beyond what the first delegated act recognises.
In this regard, Cerame-Unie has provided useful inputs to the Commission on the reasons and to what extent the Ceramic Industry can contribute further as well by providing low-carbon-footprint products for strategic EU value-chains such as the automotive and steel sectors.
For more information please consult below the CU Position Paper: