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This Bachelor's thesis explores the impact of the EU Taxonomy on the Automobile in- dustry, focusing on, Mercedes Benz Group AG, BMW Group AG, Volkswagen AG, Por- sche AG, and Audi AG.
In the first part, relevant theoretical background information will be given to get an un- derstanding of the EU Taxonomy framework. It will explain the purpose of the EU Tax- onomy, relevant keywords, and the reporting obligations of companies including an ex- planation of the role of IFRS.
The second part will analyze the annual reports to evaluate the feasibility of the imple- mentation of the EU Taxonomy framework. This includes the analysis of the companies reporting as well as the comparison of the economic activities of the companies. There were discrepancies observed among the reporting practices of Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi. It has been determined, that all car manufacturers listed a varying number of economic activities that contributed to their eligible and aligned KPIs. The disclosure of the key performance indicators turnover, capital expenditure, and operational expenditure of the five companies was examined. All manufacturers classi- fied their entire vehicle portfolios, regardless of emission output, as eligible under the EU Taxonomy, leading to challenges in accurately assessing their environmental impact. Lastly, to determine the greenest company of the five car manufacturers the Taxonomy- aligned key performance indicators within the automobile industry were analyzed. How- ever, the determination of the greenest company proved inconclusive due to conflicting results from the analyzed KPIs.
In conclusion, the implementation of the EU Taxonomy in the automobile industry is found to be partially feasible, primarily due to inconsistencies in its application among the manufacturers.
The present thesis attempts to answer the question “What makes a bond green?” by analysing the current status of the green bond market with regards to its regulation and evaluating the need for harmonizing green bond standards.
A green bond, which is characterized by allocating its proceeds exclusively to climate-related or environmental projects, is a relatively novel sustainable financing instrument that has recorded exponential growth since the first issuance in 2007. The green bond market has developed as a privately regulated market leading to a range of different green bond standards and other market mechanisms used for verifying green bonds, of which some have developed into best practice followed by most issuers. This fragmented regulation and the lack of a globally accepted green bond standard leads to the difficulty in clearly identifying what makes a bond green.
By analysing the current best practice and comparing green bond standards this paper identifies the differences between existing standards and suggests the further harmonization of standards as an important prerequisite for the further growth of the green bond market. Consequently, the challenges related to the private nature of green bond regulation is reviewed, leading to the conclusion that the intervention of the government and establishment of public regulation for green bonds could be considered. With regards to the further expansion of the green bond market the EU Green Bond Standard that is currently under development by the European Commission is critically analysed.