IOGP Europe response to EU Taxonomy Consultation on the Technical Screening Criteria Delegated Act amending the Climate Delegated Act

Executive Summary

IOGP Europe welcomes the European Commission’s draft Delegated Act (DA) amending the Climate Delegated Act and supports its objective of “ensuring that the Technical Screening Criteria (TSC) remain clear, coherent and workable in practice while preserving their environmental integrity.”

The draft DA makes progress in improving usability through:

• The introduction of a screening-first approach to Appendix A climate change adaptation
• Broader use of existing regulatory documentation, including permits and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
• Targeted simplifications in selected activities

These changes improve the operational usability of the TSC.

However, the draft DA does not fully address persistent implementation challenges. This is particularly the case where requirements are highly granular, ambiguous or not aligned with how projects are assessed, permitted and managed across different jurisdictions.

In practice, companies face a disproportionate administrative burden in demonstrating compliance with Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) criteria, especially:

• at early project stages where key data, including lifecycle emissions, is not yet available,
• across large portfolios of similar or geographically dispersed assets, and
• for small-scale or low-impact activities that are not material to overall environmental performance
• where data is held by suppliers or joint venture partners and is not directly accessible

Additionally, reliance on EU-specific regulatory references without a clear equivalence framework creates challenges for globally operated assets. This results in duplication of effort, mapping exercises and, in some cases, conservative interpretations that lead to under-reporting of aligned activities.

A number of structural issues remain unresolved, including the lack of recognition for the entire CCS value chain, limited recognition of integrated industrial systems such as bioenergy, and the lack of technology-neutral transition pathways.

Addressing these issues would not require lowering environmental ambition but rather ensuring that the TSC is proportionate, interoperable and aligned with how projects are developed and operated.

Key recommendations:

IOGP Europe recommends that the Commission:

1. Clarify climate scenario requirements
Explicitly allow the use of Shared Socioeconomic Pathway-based scenarios aligned with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report 6 (IPCC AR6).

2. Introduce a clear equivalence approach for third-country regimes
Make it explicit that compliance can be demonstrated through third-country national regulatory frameworks and permits that achieve comparable outcomes.

3. Clarify the application of Appendix C
For projects outside of the EU, provide a practical pathway for demonstrating compliance through equivalent third-country chemicals frameworks and avoid duplicative requirements beyond existing EU chemicals legislation.

4. Apply proportionality and materiality more consistently
Reflect differences in scale and risk, including allowing representative sampling for portfolios and avoiding full assessments for small or low impact assets.

5. Clarify evidence expectations
Provide clearer guidance where data is not directly accessible, especially in supply chains and joint ventures, and where projects are at an early stage.

6. Confirm the treatment of legacy assets
Make clear that design and construction requirements are assessed against the rules applicable at the time of permitting, and that valid permits remain the basis for operational compliance.

7. Align minimum safeguards with corporate level processes
Avoid project-by-project documentation where robust governance and reporting exist at a group level.

8. Address remaining structural gaps and activity specific challenges
In particular, those relating to CCS value chain coverage, bioenergy scope, RD&I thresholds and technology neutral transition pathways.

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