On 4 November 2021, the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) published a Common Ground Taxonomy package consisting of:
The IPSF is a multilateral forum that aims to enable the exchange of practices and increase international cooperation on sustainable finance related matters. Part of this work focusses on deepening cooperation on the development of “sustainable taxonomies” around the world and to help mitigate fragmentation of global green/sustainability definitions as far as possible. A number of jurisdictions are developing national or regional sustainable taxonomies. Of these, China and the EU adopted their respective taxonomies into legislative frameworks. In July 2020 China and the EU initiated a working group on taxonomies with the objective of undertaking a comprehensive assessment of their existing taxonomies for environmentally sustainable activities, including identifying the commonalities and differences in their respective approaches and outcomes. This work is known as the IPSF ‘Common Ground Taxonomy’.
The instruction report now published provides activity-by-activity mapping and a comparison of the EU and China taxonomies, including relevant technical screening criteria. The common ground taxonomy table represents technical work between the EU and China taxonomies within the scope of the instruction report. It has no legal effect and is not formally endorsed by IPSF member jurisdictions. In the call for feedback the IPSF is inviting feedback on the common ground taxonomy table through an online questionnaire. The deadline for responding is 4 January 2022.
