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Abstract This research aims to initiate academic discussion on the European Union (EU) social taxonomy for the purpose of promoting sustainable economic activities that ultimately contribute to achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the EU. The paper examines the historical evolution of the social taxonomy concept and presents the chronological order of the regulatory advancements that have paved the way for the establishment of both the EU environmental and social taxonomies. This study emphasizes the role of the EU environmental taxonomy as the frontrunner and highlights three fundamental distinctions between taxonomies in terms of objectives, foundations, and measurability. By defining the key performance indicators applicable to entities engaged in taxonomy-aligned economic activities, the paper offers a tabulated framework to understand the core focus areas, sub-objectives, and types of substantial contributions related to each of the three social objectives outlined in the EU taxonomy. Moreover, this paper aims to emphasize the contemporary challenges and the prospective avenues for future research in the field of social taxonomy.

This paper contributes to the understanding of media discourses surrounding the sustainability of nuclear energy, particularly within a crisis context. The study examines the implications of the adoption of the Complementary Delegated Act on EU taxonomy by the European Commission on July 6, 2022, which officially categorises nuclear energy as sustainable. Employing a critical discourse analysis (CDA) methodology, the research explores the discourse strategies –nomination, predication, and argumentation– utilised across 695 news articles. The findings reveal the intricate representation of nuclear energy’s sustainability across the media. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict amplifies favourably the nuclear energy view as a reliable and sustainable energy source. However, the media discourse on nuclear energy’s sustainability reveals a variety of viewpoints. These varying outlooks provide essential insights for shaping effective energy policies. This research contributes valuable insights into understanding how media shapes and influences public perception of sustainability energy policies, amplifying specific actors’ voices and steering discourse toward distinct trajectories. Such insights are crucial in crafting energy policies.

In this paper, we review the literature on industrial ecosystems and EU Taxonomy of sustainable activities. We then measure the size, dynamics and specialisation of the industrial ecosystems in Italy - as defined by the European Commission. Subsequently, we try to assess how much different sectors will be involved in the Taxonomy of sustainable activities: Manufacturing, Transportation, Electricity and Water Supply are those strongly involved in terms of employees. EU Taxonomy will radically change in the near future the financial reporting requirements and strategic management actions in the corporate system towards green transition. Firms need to improve their level of knowledge of the Taxonomy and identify suitable actions in order to align with it.

Financial market is expected to play an important role in transition towards more sustainable setup of the business environment. The European Commission published the EU’s Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy in 2021, requiring the inclusion of environmental, social and governance considerations into investment decision making. Yet, small, open EU economies, such as Slovakia, are in a specific position when implementing this legal framework. For instance, Slovakia does not have any meaningful stock market to speak of, although its bond and collective investment markets perform better. To assess the adoption of sustainable finance elements and to assess the convergence on the Slovak bond market towards standard practice, we investigated current practices on the corporate bond market of nonfinancial corporations. We conducted our research through a review of corporate bonds prospectuses published during 2020-22, in which, to assess current market practices, we examined and evaluated selected criteria and indicators related to issuers and bonds and compared them. These criteria include for example issuer´s business and purpose of finance, form, yield, security, or transferability of bonds. We find that relevant variable criteria and indicators related to reviewed bonds, compared in our research, are similar, indicating that the market converged into a standard practice. Finally, we find almost no evidence of adoption of the sustainable finance elements although there are hints of market uptake of sustainable practices.

The EU taxonomy defines criteria for economic activities committed to a net zero emission by 2050, and other environmental goals. Its overall goal is to direct investments to economic activities aligned with the European Green Deal and, thereby, classified as sustainable. For industrial organizations, there is an urgent need to develop adaptive capabilities to meet the requirements set by the new taxonomy. The present scoping review contributes by analyzing academic publications on this topic through the lens of a complex science and systems approach. It analyzes academic publications on the EU taxonomy, related to industrial organizations and their development of socio-technical systems. At the initial stage, 526 scientific publications were retrieved from three web repositories (Scopus, World of Science, and Scholar). Only eight publications matched the selection criteria and constitute the data of this study. Results indicate that there is a lack of holistic perspectives and an unbalanced system response to the EU taxonomy. Adopting a systems approach can help industrial organizations navigate the intricate dynamics of a sustainable transition, striking a balance between adhering to the EU taxonomy and maintaining market competitiveness. The findings emphasize the importance of trans-disciplinary approaches and the need for agile and adaptive ways of learning inside industrial organizations.

The European Green Deal brings into attention a new strategy to support the transition to a society that will meet the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, improving the quality of life. Given the multitude of actors involved in the process of collecting, processing and communicating information on the impact of different activities on the environment and citizens, it is necessary to have a legal framework on sustainability reporting as rigorously as possible, in order to ensure the comparability in time and space of the information provided. For this information, reported at the European Union (EU) level, to allow decision-making at the right time, it is necessary to use digital technologies to facilitate the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting information. In this paper the authors tried to offer a practical example on how eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) works in order to highlight the benefits of this modern language in the context of the Green Deal. In this regard, using Altova MissionKit 2023, the authors designed an XBRL taxonomy which is the basis for the development of an instance in which we find some representative indicators for the circular economy, an environmental objective of the EU taxonomy. The XBRL language simplifies the transfer of information from sustainability reports prepared in different countries to the European Commission, improving and accelerating the decision-making process.

In the face of negative changes in climate change and the natural environment, the financial system is obliged to change its financial mechanisms as efficiently as possible to help the economy transform according to the green rate concept. The taxonomy published by the EU (2021) is an economic classifier, with the help of which businesses can transform their processes and banks can select green projects. Sustainability and the fight against climate change is one of the strategic directions of the Bank of Lithuania, so in order to achieve better results, it would be appropriate to combine state and business investments. And although the sustainability of business activities is becoming a priority, commercial banks providing loans do not yet have clear criteria or a unified evaluation system for distinguishing environmentally friendly business. In Lithuania, the banking sector is guided by ESG principles, the EU taxonomy regulation, and other autonomously created criteria that allow to decide whether to promote one or another business that could potentially create not only financial, but also additional, sustainable ecological returns. According to the principles of UN Responsible Banking, there are already actively committed banks that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement for integrated sustainability as a natural element necessary in the long term. The article analyzes the current topic of the green exchange rate in the banking sector, uses the systematization and comparative analysis of scientific literature. The concept of green finance is discussed; changes in bank activities and a new look at creditable businesses according to the green rate standard and the transformation of banks through the criteria of their activities. Article in Lithuanian. Bankų žaliosios veiklos kriterijų vertinimo teorinis tyrimas Santrauka Esant neigiamiems klimato kaitos ir natūralios aplinkos pokyčiams, finansų sistema įpareigota kuo efektyviau keisti savo finansinius mechanizmus, kad padėtų ekonomikai transformuotis pagal žaliojo kurso koncepciją. ES (2021) išleista Taksonomija yra ekonominis klasifikatorius, kurį naudodami verslai gali transformuoti savo procesus, o bankai atrinkti žaliuosius projektus. Tvarumas ir kova su klimato kaita yra viena iš Lietuvos banko strateginių krypčių, tad siekiant geresnių rezultatų, tikslinga būtų derinti valstybės ir verslo investicijas. Ir nors verslo veiklos tvarumas tampa prioritetu, paskolas teikiantys komerciniai bankai dar neturi aiškių kriterijų ar vienos vertinimo sistemos, kaip atskirti iš tiesų aplinką tausojantį verslą. Lietuvoje bankų sektorius vadovaujasi ESG principais, ES Taksonomijos reglamentu bei kitais kriterijais, leidžiančiais nuspręsti, ar skatinti vieną ar kitą verslą, kuris potencialiai galėtų sukurti ne tik finansinę, bet ir papildomą, tvarią ekologišką grąžą. Pagal JT atsakingos bankininkystės principus jau yra aktyviai įsipareigojusių bankų, kurie prisideda prie JT tvaraus vystymosi tikslų ir Paryžiaus susitarimo siekiant integruoto tvarumo kaip natūralaus elemento, būtino ilgalaikėje perspektyvoje. Straipsnyje analizuojama aktuali žaliojo kurso tema bankų sektoriuje, naudojamas mokslinės literatūros sisteminimas ir lyginamoji analizė. Aptariama žaliųjų finansų samprata; bankų veiklos pokyčiai ir naujas žvilgsnis į kredituojamus verslus pagal žaliojo kurso standartą bei bankų transformacija per jų veiklos kriterijus. Reikšminiai žodžiai: žaliasis kursas, žaliasis vertinimas, bankų sektorius, žalieji produktai, ESG principai, ES Taksonomija.

The purpose of the European Green Deal and the regulation associated with the so-called EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities is to lead capital flows towards sustainable investments. According to the European Commission this is necessary to finance solutions for the immense challenges ahead, such as climate change, social inequality, and loss of biodiversity. However, academic research raises concerns that sustainable investments may earn lower risk-adjusted returns in the long run. The European Supervisory Authorities identify greenwashing risks and pronounce the limited ability of retail investors to make informed investment decisions. The aim of this perspective article is to provide suggestions for a regulation on relevant information on sustainable investments provided by financial service providers to retail investors. Therefore, the existing regulations are put in relation with recent research on investments considering ESG issues. To enable retail investors' self-determined decision-making, financial service providers such as banks, mutual funds, and financial advisors must provide easily accessible, clear, and easily understandable information regarding the ESG-conformity of the offered financial products. In addition, financial service providers must inform retail investors about some specific risks that can arise from a narrow focus on ESG assets such as under-diversification, an overweight of large stocks, and returns that can be lower than the market return.

This paper represents qualitative research of the concept of taxonomy within the European Union (EU), drafted with the sole purpose of establishing the presence of the environmental elements specific to sustainable development within the economic activity. The EU taxonomy is an important mechanism which offers coherence in using every instrument conceived for accomplishing the ecological objectives of the environment. The concept of taxonomy refers to the investment funds of big economic entities within EU and beyond, which need to provide information about their environmental related activities. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the cooperation between the regulation authorities and the technical experts in the domain (TEG), which offer a starting point in this journey from their experience with environmental, social and governance (ESG) information reporting. Therefore, the intention EU has regarding the taxonomy is guiding the capital towards the ecological and the implementation of a new universally available classification system of sustainable investments at an international level.

ABSTRACT: The sustainable development perspective, that left its mark on the 21st century, has significantly affected global economic policies and investment strategies. The linear economy approach, which left its mark on the process from the existence of capitalism to the 1970s, when environmental awareness increased, was completely interrupted by the economic contraction created by the Covid-19 process and left its place to circular economies. In this context, the European Green Deal published in 2019 is a circular economy roadmap that puts global environmental goals at the center of the economy and thus aims to increase the efficient use of resources. In the same year, the European Commission adopted the EU Taxonomy to integrate its financial system in line with its cyclical economic, social and environmental targets. EU Taxonomy aims to reveal environmentally compatible-incompatible activities in global financial markets with the rules it brings to EU financial market instruments. At the same time, Taxonomy aims to eliminate transaction costs, green laundering and information asymmetry caused by economic activities incompatible with sustainable cyclical activities. ÖZ: Yirmi birinci yüzyıla damgasını vuran sürdürülebilirlik, küresel ekonomi politikalarını ve yatırım stratejilerini önemli ölçüde etkilemiştir. Kapitalizmin var olduğu süreçten çevresel bilincin arttığı 1970’lere kadar olan sürece damgasını vuran doğrusal ekonomi yaklaşımı, Covid-19’un yarattığı ekonomik daralmayla tamamen sekteye uğramış, yerini döngüsel ekonomi yaklaşımına bırakmıştır. Bu bağlamda 2019 yılında yayınlanan Avrupa Yeşil Mutabakatı, küresel çevresel hedefleri ekonominin merkezine koyan ve böylece kaynakların verimli kullanımını artırmayı amaçlayan bir döngüsel ekonomi yol haritasıdır. Avrupa Birliği Komisyonu, aynı yıl döngüsel ekonomik, sosyal ve çevresel hedefleriyle uyumlu olarak finansal sistemini de entegre edecek şekilde AB Taksonomisini kabul etmiştir. AB Taksonomisi, AB finansal piyasa araçlarına getirdiği kurallarla küresel finansal piyasalarda çevreyle uyumlu/uyumsuz faaliyetleri ortaya çıkarmayı hedeflemektedir. Aynı zamanda Taksonomi, sürdürülebilir döngüsel faaliyetlerle uyumsuz ekonomik faaliyetlerin neden olduğu işlem maliyetlerini, yeşil aklamayı, bilgi asimetrisini gidermeyi amaçlamaktadır.

The European Union Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance is the first comprehensive classification designed to identify the extent to which an economic activity is environmentally sustainable. This paper investigates how the EU Taxonomy affected corporate investments for Taxonomy-eligible companies compared to non-eligible ones. We applied a difference-in-difference model using a dataset of 130,918 firms from 27 EU Member States, using 2019 as a threshold. Our findings show that the introduction of the EU Taxonomy per se did not result in an increase in corporate investments among Taxonomy-eligible companies; rather, firms’ size and Taxonomy-eligibility uncertainty played a key role in explaining variation in corporate investments. The implications are twofold: the participatory and communication approach of the European Commission implemented with the EU Taxonomy is effective in nudging corporate investments aimed at sustainability. However, this only happens when the regulation provides an unambiguous sector specification. Thus, it is important that the regulatory interventions clearly define what is sustainable.