The EU Taxonomy should act as the ‘gold standard’ for informing ethical and sustainable investments. It exists to provide a verified list of ‘green’ investments to companies, investors and policymakers, with a view to directing huge amounts of private finance to activities that deliver a fair, green transition.

Under the new aviation criteria, planes that meet weak fuel efficiency standards, or are certified to fly on low levels of “sustainable aviation fuels”, may be taxonomy compliant – even though demand growth has historically always outstripped efficiency savings. Under the shipping criteria, LNG-powered ships could also be taxonomy compliant, despite LNG being a highly polluting fossil fuel which produces methane, a greenhouse gas which is 80 times more potent than CO2 in the short term. The NGOs argue that there is no robust scientific evidence for these new criteria, and that they potentially jeopardise climate mitigation efforts and the EU’s legally binding climate targets.

Given the expected lifespans of planes and ships range from 20-50 years, this means that the Taxonomy could drive investment to planes and ships that pollute the air and seas for decades to come, making a mockery of the urgent need to decarbonise all sectors.