LEGAL VIEWPOINT
DESALINATION AND REUSE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE EU TAXONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE By Mr. Eduardo Orteu and Mr. Carlos Vázquez, Sustainability Group at Goméz Aceco&Pombo Sustainable Finance in the European Union objectives, as well as to determine when such Regulation (EU) 2020/8521 of the European activities may cause significant harm to another Parliament and of the Council, of 18 June environmental objective (DNSH principle). In
2020, on the establishment of a framework to other words, these are the technical criteria facilitate sustainable investment (hereinafter, which allow a given economic activity to be the “Taxonomy Regulation”) has established classified as environmentally sustainable. a classification system for economic activities in the EU in order to identify those that can Until now, the delegated acts adopted to be qualified as environmentally sustainable implement the Taxonomy Regulation did not by contributing to the achievement of EU consider seawater desalination or wastewater as environmentally sustainable environmental objectives2 – both related reuse to climate and non-climate issues - so that activities. This situation has changed following investments aimed at developing such activities the adoption on June 27 by the European can be qualified, in turn, as environmentally Commission of two new delegated acts3 implementing the above-mentioned Regulation. sustainable. To do so, the Taxonomy Regulation requires Criteria
for considering wastewater that such activity contributes significantly to the reuse as an environmentally sustainable achievement of the aforementioned objectives activity. and does not cause significant harm to any of
them (the so-called Do No Significant Harm Article 12 of the Taxonomy Regulation -DNSH- principle). The Regulation has been establishes that an economic activity is developed through delegated acts that define, considered to contribute substantially to for each of the environmental objectives, the the sustainable use and protection of water
technical criteria to be taken into consideration and marine resources when it substantially to define when an economic activity contributes contributes to achieving the good status significantly to the achievement of those of bodies of water or to preventing the
1) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32020R0852 2) The EU environmental objectives set out in the Taxonomy Regulation are climate change mitigation and adaptation; sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; transition to a circular economy; pollution control and prevention; and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. 3) https://finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-06/taxonomy-regulation-delegated-act-2022-environmental_en_0.pdf and https://finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-06/taxonomy-regulation-delegated-act-2022-climate_en_1.pdf
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