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Data-driven solutions for GHG reduction under the EU Taxonomy
Software, IoT and data services can qualify under the Taxonomy where the solution is predominantly aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that reduction is substantiated: demonstrated life-cycle GHG savings versus the best available alternative. For climate-tech and industrial software companies, alignment is achievable but evidence-led, and the evidence is a quantified emissions case, not a mission statement.
Why this activity matters
The Taxonomy’s ICT chapter recognises that much decarbonisation runs on software: energy management systems, smart grid and building controls, precision agriculture, logistics optimisation and industrial IoT all cut emissions in the activities they serve. Activity 8.2 gives that contribution a financeable definition, with a deliberately demanding demonstration requirement to keep the category honest.
For SaaS and ICT companies, the commercial stakes are fund classification and CSRD KPIs: an aligned product line lets an investor count the holding, and lets the company report aligned turnover. The recurring gap in assessments is the demonstration itself: solutions with credible, quantified customer-level emission savings (measured or modelled against the counterfactual, ideally verified) assess well; solutions with directional claims do not. Data centre operations underlying the service connect to the separate data centre activity.
What alignment requires
A purposive test with a quantified demonstration at its heart. In summary:
| Area | What is required (summarised) |
|---|---|
| Predominant aim | The solution is predominantly aimed at the provision of data and analytics enabling GHG reductions, established by its function and marketing, not incidental side-effects. |
| Demonstrated savings | Substantial life-cycle GHG savings are demonstrated versus the best performing alternative solution, using recognised methodology, with the solution’s own footprint (including hosting) netted in the comparison. |
| Verification | The demonstration should be robust and, where available, independently reviewed; assessments weight verified customer-level evidence most heavily. |
Summarised for orientation; the assessment itself applies the full criteria text of the Delegated Acts as amended.
Where DNSH scrutiny falls
Hardware elements (sensors, devices): durability and end-of-life handling under WEEE.
Light for pure software; device manufacturing supply chains where hardware is bundled.
CRVA proportionate to the operation; service continuity for solutions their users depend on.
Documentation that typically supports the assessment
- Product description establishing the predominant GHG-reduction aim
- The quantified savings demonstration: methodology, baseline/counterfactual, results
- Customer case data or measured deployments supporting the demonstration
- The solution’s own footprint including hosting (linking to data centre evidence)
- Independent review or verification where held
How Censatim assesses it
Our questioning goes straight to the demonstration: what the solution does, what the counterfactual is, how the savings were quantified and what the solution’s own footprint nets off. This is the activity where the gap between marketing and evidence is widest, and the assessment’s value is telling you precisely which side of that line your documentation currently sits.
Censatim is an expert-built EU Taxonomy assessment tool: describe the asset or activity in plain language, upload supporting documents, and answer a short set of targeted questions. The result is a criterion-by-criterion view with an In-line / Partial / Not aligned / Undetermined rating and a confidence level for each dimension. See the full methodology.
Frequently asked questions
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