What are DNSH requirements?

DNSH refers to the Do No Significant Harm principle, the EU definition of sustainable growth. In addition to the requirement of projects complying with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation, the projects to be funded must comply with the DNSH principle, which states that projects must not cause significant harm to the six environmental objectives defined in the EU Taxonomy Regulation.

This has been evaluated for each of the eligible applications through six different aspects: (1) mitigation of climate change, (2) adaptation to climate change, (3) sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, (4) transition to a circular economy, including prevention and recycling of waste, (5) prevention and control of environmental pollution, and (6) protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The following RDI activities shall be considered to comply with the technical guidelines on the DNSH principle (2021/C58/01): (1) RDI actions leading to a technological neutral outcome at the level of their application, (2) RDI actions supporting options with low environmental impact, or (3) RDI actions focusing primarily on developing options with minimal environmental impact in the sector in question, where there is no technically and economically viable low-impact option.