Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 by 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 (EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act)

Overview

The Delegated Regulation sets the technical screening criteria required by Articles 10(3) and 11(3) of the Taxonomy Regulation (EU) 2020/852. Article 1 puts the climate change mitigation criteria in Annex I and Article 2 the adaptation criteria in Annex II; the Regulation applies from 1 January 2022. The criteria build on existing Union law, best practice and standards, and state the minimum requirements for an activity both to contribute substantially to the climate objective and to do no significant harm (DNSH) to the other environmental objectives. Annex I covers sectors such as forestry, manufacturing, energy, water and waste, transport, construction and real estate, information and communication and professional activities.

Data centres sit in Annex I under activity 8.1 (NACE J63.11). The activity covers storage, processing, transmission and related handling of data through data centres, including edge computing, and data centres include ICT equipment, cooling, power and power distribution equipment, the building and monitoring systems. It is a transitional activity under Article 10(2) of the Taxonomy Regulation, and holds that status only where it meets the technical screening criteria in the section.

Substantial contribution to mitigation rests on three criteria. First, implement all relevant "expected practices" of the most recent EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency or CLC TR 50600-99-1, verified by an independent third party and audited at least every three years. Second, where an expected practice is not relevant because of physical, logistical, planning or other constraints, explain why, and alternative practices with similar energy savings may be identified as direct replacements. Third, the global warming potential (GWP) of refrigerants in the cooling system must not exceed 675.

DNSH criteria cover the other objectives. For adaptation Appendix A (climate risk and vulnerability assessment against listed hazards) applies and for water Appendix B (good water status, water use and protection management plan). For the circular economy, equipment must meet Directive 2009/125/EC requirements for servers and data storage, not contain RoHS Annex II restricted substances (apart from allowed concentration values in homogeneous materials), a waste management plan must ensure maximal recycling, and end-of-life equipment gets selective treatment under WEEE Annex VII. Pollution prevention and biodiversity are marked N/A for this activity.

Annex II describes substantial contribution to adaptation for the same activity: the activity must implement solutions that substantially reduce the physical climate risks material to it. Risks are screened against Appendix A (temperature, wind, water and solid mass related chronic and acute hazards, for example heat stress, heat wave, water stress, flood, sea level rise); activities with an expected lifespan under 10 years use climate projections at the smallest appropriate scale, others use the highest available resolution, with at least 10 to 30 year projections for major investments. Under adaptation, the mitigation DNSH also requires all expected practices rated with the maximum value of 5 in the Code of Conduct. This is the original 2021 Official Journal text; later amendments are not consolidated here.

Key points

1. Article 1 puts mitigation criteria in Annex I and Article 2 adaptation criteria in Annex II; the Regulation applies from 1 January 2022.
2. Activity 8.1 (NACE J63.11) covers data storage, processing and transmission including edge computing; data centres include ICT, cooling, power, power distribution, building and monitoring systems.
3. 8.1 is a transitional activity under Article 10(2) of the Taxonomy Regulation.
4. Mitigation criterion 1: implement all relevant expected practices of the most recent EU Code of Conduct or CLC TR 50600-99-1, verified by an independent third party and audited at least every three years.
5. Mitigation criterion 2: explain any expected practice that is not relevant; alternative practices with similar energy savings may replace it.
6. Mitigation criterion 3: refrigerant GWP in the data centre cooling system must not exceed 675.
7. Circular economy DNSH: equipment meets server and storage ecodesign requirements, complies with RoHS Annex II, a waste management plan ensures maximal recycling, and end-of-life equipment gets selective treatment per WEEE Annex VII.
8. Adaptation (Annex II, 8.1): a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and adaptation solutions for material physical climate risks; highest-resolution projections for activities with more than 10 years' lifespan.
9. The mitigation DNSH in Annex II 8.1 also requires all Code of Conduct expected practices assigned the maximum value of 5.
10. Water DNSH (Appendix B) asks for an assessment aimed at good water status based on a water use and protection management plan; an EIA covering water impact removes the need for an extra assessment.

Using it in design

• Add an "EU Taxonomy 8.1" compliance profile: a Code of Conduct expected-practice checklist with justification fields for non-applicable items, and a refrigerant GWP <= 675 check in the cooling catalogue.
• Keep ecodesign and RoHS flags on IT equipment in the catalogue; include an end-of-life waste management plan and WEEE Annex VII treatment among operating documents.
• Let the site module produce a physical climate risk screening by the Appendix A hazard classes (temperature, wind, water, solid mass); heat, flood and water stress are especially relevant and support the adaptation and water DNSH criteria.
• Use the GWP <= 675 limit as the first filter when selecting refrigerants in the cooling design.
• Add the independent third-party verification and the at-least-three-year audit cycle to the operations calendar, since continued Taxonomy alignment depends on it.

Who should read it

Engineers, finance and sustainability teams assessing EU Taxonomy alignment of data centre investments, preparing sustainable finance disclosures or setting design criteria against this framework.

Document contents

1. Recitals (1)-(59)
2. Article 1: Mitigation criteria (Annex I)
3. Article 2: Adaptation criteria (Annex II)
4. Article 3: Entry into force and application
5. Annex I: Technical screening criteria for climate change mitigation
6. Annex I, 8. Information and communication
7. Annex I, 8.1 Data processing, hosting and related activities
8. Annex I, 8.2 Data-driven solutions for GHG emissions reductions
9. Appendix A: Generic criteria for DNSH to climate change adaptation
10. Appendix B: Generic criteria for DNSH to sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources
11. Appendix C: Generic criteria for DNSH to pollution prevention and control regarding use and presence of chemicals
12. Appendix D: Generic criteria for DNSH to protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems
13. Appendix E: Technical specifications for water appliances
14. Annex II: Technical screening criteria for climate change adaptation
15. Annex II, 8.1 Data processing, hosting and related activities

Related standards

• Regulation (EU) 2020/852
• CLC TR 50600-99-1
• EU Code of Conduct Best Practices
• Regulation (EU) 2019/424
• Directive 2011/65/EU
• Directive 2012/19/EU

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Publication details

Authors

European Commission

Publisher

European Commission

Year

2021

Document number

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 (CELEX 32021R2139)

Document language

English

Source type

Government / public

Access

Open licence — downloadable

Licence

EU reuse (2011/833/EU) — reuse permitted with acknowledgement of the source

Licence evidence

eur-lex.europa.eu

Citation