Requirements and proof obligations for "climate neutral companies"

As part of the project “Requirements and proof obligations for ‘climate-neutral companies’”, a legal definition of the term “climate-neutral companies” and a tiered system for companies on the way to climate neutrality were developed based on Section 18 of the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). An important purpose of the legal definition and the tiered system is to be able to link privileges and incentives with the achievement of the stages and the target state of climate neutrality. 

In order to develop and design a legal definition or a tiered system, the target state had to be precisely described and defined first. Climate neutrality describes a state in which human activities ultimately have no net effect on the climate system. This goes beyond the effect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and also includes, for example, the climate impact of land use. However, the project team has come to the conclusion that GHG neutrality is the more practical approach in the context of the project objectives, as it has a relatively high climate impact, is easier to measure and implement for companies, and is compatible with national climate targets. The definition of the term "climate-neutral companies" developed in the report therefore defines the target state as achieving GHG neutrality without having to take other non-GHG climate effects into account. The project team therefore recommends that the terms climate neutrality and GHG neutrality be clearly and comprehensibly differentiated and classified in a possible regulation on the legal definition. 

The legal definition and the tiered system were developed against the background of a dynamic and complex political and regulatory framework. At European level, the "Empowering consumers for the green transition" (EmpCo) directive was adopted in March 2024. The "Green Claims Directive" (GCD) will be drawn up in May 2024 at the stage of finalizing the report and is expected to be pursued further after the European elections in June 2024. Both directives aim to create a comprehensible and stringent legal framework for environmental statements made by companies. A distinction is made between different types of specific and far-reaching environmental statements (general, explicit, future-oriented). The aim of the tiered system is to enable environmental statements along this spectrum. In addition, as far as possible, the reporting requirements of the "Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive" (CSRD) and the associated "European Sustainability Reporting Standards" (ESRS) are followed.