The EU Taxonomy refers to several regulations related to economically sustainable economic activities. This includes: Article 8 of the Regulation of the EU 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (Regulation 2020/852) and the EU Commission Delegated Regulation of 4 June 2021 establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives (Technical screening criteria); as well as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of 6 July 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Articles 19a or 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU concerning environmentally sustainable economic activities, and specifying the methodology to comply with that disclosure obligation (Disclosure Regulation). These regulations are hereinafter also referred to as the Taxonomy. Orange Polska disclosed the proportion of Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy non-eligible economic activities in their total turnover, capital and operational expenditures and the qualitative information (key performance indicators, key indicators).
The Taxonomy aims to define an activity classification system that provides clarity as to which activities qualify as sustainable and which do not. Establishing the criteria for environmentally sustainable economic activities is important for the European Union’s goal of sustainable development and the transition to a safe, climate-neutral, climate-changeresilient and more resource-efficient circular economy.
According to the Regulation 2020/852, an environmentally sustainable activity is an activity that makes a significant contribution to the achievement of at least one of the environmental objectives set out in the Regulation, does not harm the environmental objectives, meets certain minimum safeguards set out in the Regulation, including in the field of human rights, and meets the technical screening criteria.
Pursuant to the Taxonomy, in 2021 some enterprises, including Orange Polska, should for the first time report key performance indicators related to eligible activities implementing two out of six environmental goals, i.e. climate change mitigation and adaptation to the climate changes. Activities that pursue successive environmental goals will be reported by enterprises in later periods, after completing the Taxonomy with the remaining goals. The Management Board of Orange Polska analysed our activities in terms of qualifying the activities conducted by the Group in accordance with the Taxonomy and presented the key performance indicators of the proportion of turnover (revenue), capital expenditures and operating expenditures related to these activities.
Orange Polska commented on the qualifications and indicators related to the Group’s eligible activities, as the system for identifying and classifying eligible activities regulated in the Taxonomy requires interpretation and does not reflect all activities undertaken by companies in the environmental area.
The European Commission examined 13 business sectors, which are described in Annexes 1 and 2 to the Technical Screening Criteria regulation. The European Commission’s approach is progressive – the priority has been given to the business sectors responsible for higher greenhouse gas emissions, and the eligibility analysis of other sectors will be the subject of further work by the Commission. Therefore, not all sectors of the economy have been reviewed, including the telecommunications sector, and only a few areas of this sector’s activity have been included in the Taxonomy, which results in the low level of the key indicators disclosed by Orange Polska.
Most of Orange Polska’s activities in the field of telecommunications services to residential, business and telecommunications operators are currently outside the scope of Annexes 1 and 2 to the Taxonomy Screening Criteria, although Orange Polska believes that its activities may contribute positively to climate change adaptation and mitigation in terms of reducing its environmental footprint.
In the future, regulatory changes may result in other activities in the field of information and communication services being classified as eligible by the Taxonomy, in addition to the currently classified activities such as data processing through processing centres and solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This could include services constituting the main activities of Orange Polska, which is important from the point of view of ensuring balanced and sustainable development of the European Union. Another example of an activity important from the point of view of Orange Polska, but which cannot be classified as eligible according to our interpretation of the Taxonomy, is the purchase of renewable energy for own needs (i.e. from wind farms) under long-term contracts with suppliers.
Activities carried out by Orange Polska in the area of the environment, along with climate goals, climate risks, and initiatives to improve energy efficiency and the circular economy in order to reduce the negative impact on the climate, are presented in section 10.
The above explanations are important for an understanding of the key performance indicators of eligible activities presented below, which show a low level of such activities in Orange Polska in accordance with our interpretation of the Taxonomy, due to the limited scope of activities classified by the Taxonomy as eligible.
