By George Tentes

The Sustainability Proofing Report completes the dossier of an investment and aims to document the environmental profile of the investor and of the investment plan, as well as the compliance of the investment plan with the relevant EU and national environmental legislation.

The focus is on climate, environmental and social protection, where this requires consideration of the potential impacts of an investment on GHG emissions, adaptation to a changing climate, on society and on the different elements of natural capital: air, water (fresh and marine), land and biodiversity.

The argumentation also includes consideration of mitigation measures to reduce environmental impact, as well as consideration of opportunities to improve the environmental performance of the project.

The Do No significant Harm principle, is one of the newest EU principles that frames the EU acquis (since 2021). It is based on the concept that over and above the environmental impact assessment and the environmental licensing, each investment should not impose burdens on Europe’s environmental targets.

In summary, the Report on the application of the DNSH principle examines the following:
Excluded activities under the RRF and the Green Deal
Compliance with national and EU legislation
Do no significant harm on the EU’s 6 environmental objectives.
Elements of compliance and related declarations of compliance.