Work in Parliament Question on Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Delegated Act on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation – risk of sustainable investment distortions in the EU aluminium value chain

Questions to the Commission and the Council | 02-02-2021

Parliamentary questions


Question for written answer E-000653/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138


Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou (PPE), Iuliu Winkler (PPE), Mircea-Gheorghe Hava (PPE), Frédérique Ries (Renew), Izabela-Helena Kloc (ECR), Stelios Kympouropoulos (PPE), Massimiliano Salini (PPE), Loucas Fourlas (PPE), Franc Bogovič (PPE), Maria da Graça Carvalho (PPE), Traian Băsescu (PPE), Hermann Tertsch (ECR), Georgios Kyrtsos (PPE), Marek Paweł Balt (S&D), Bogdan Rzońca (ECR), Theodoros Zagorakis (PPE), Vasile Blaga (PPE), Ioan-Rareş Bogdan (PPE), Cristian-Silviu Buşoi (PPE), Gheorghe Falcă (PPE), Marian-Jean Marinescu (PPE), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE), Gheorghe-Vlad Nistor (PPE), Eugen Tomac (PPE), Manolis Kefalogiannis (PPE), Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi (PPE), Siegfried Mureşan (PPE)


Subject: Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Delegated Act on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation – risk of sustainable investment distortions in the EU aluminium value chain


The Commission is in the process of finalising the Delegated Act on climate mitigation and adaptation under the EU Sustainable Finance Framework.

Although primary aluminium production is eligible, producers are unable to meet the electricity thresholds for indirect emissions as the proposed 100 gCO2/kWh (Annex I)(1) and 270 gCO 2/kWh (Annex II)(2) limits for carbon content of consumed electricity depend strictly on geographical location. In the EU‑27, that would only allow a minimal number of smelters out of the 11 still operating, with an annual capacity of around 2 million tonnes, to meet the criteria.

The climate mitigation ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) threshold under the climate adaptation objective (Annex II) would de facto label most EU smelters as significantly harming the environment.

In the light of the above:

How will the Commission ensure that it does not label the majority of EU primary production of aluminium as ‘significantly harming the environment’, in spite of the fact that it has a carbon footprint which is 50 % lower than the global average and three times lower than that of China?

Why does the delegated act – under which mitigation measures aimed at achieving the identified thresholds are no longer eligible – ignore the initial recommendations of the Commission’s Technical Expert Group(3)?


(1) https://ec.europa.eu/finance/docs/level-2-measures/taxonomy-regulation-da-2020-annex-1_en.pdf
(2) https://ec.europa.eu/finance/docs/level-2-measures/taxonomy-regulation-da-2020-annex-2_en.pdf
(3) https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/business_economy_euro/banking_and_finance/documents/200309-sustainable-finance-teg-final-report-taxonomy-annexes_en.pdf

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