“Everyone Needs to Breathe the Green Air” - Recommendations for Implementing the EU Taxonomy

Abstract: Title: “Everyone Needs to Breathe the Green Air” Authors: Felix Ahrås and Johanna Lindqvist Supervisors: Madeleine Englund and Rick Middel Date: 2022-06-05 Background and Purpose: As a consequence of the newly admitted EU taxonomy directive, organizations covered by the reporting criteria have been required to interpret the EU taxonomy and implement new working practices. The purpose of this thesis is to propose recommendations for how Investment AB Latour can implement the EU taxonomy by using project management practices so the directive is implemented consistently in their wholly-owned holdings, which will give a more transparent view for the Group of Investment AB Latour. The recommendations aim to contribute in filling the gap in literature on how organizations can use project management practices to implement the EU taxonomy. The recommendations are based on benchmarking interviews with organizations subject to the EU taxonomy that have implemented the directive by using project management processes, to identify a best practice. Methodology: A qualitative research strategy with an iterative abductive approach has been followed throughout the study. First, unstructured interviews with relevant employees at Latour were conducted to understand the organization of Latour. Then, existing literature and relevant theories were reviewed. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with EU taxonomy experts were held to set the context of the directive, as it is recently admitted and still in development. The empirical data were collected through semi-structured benchmarking interviews with twelve organizations subject to the EU taxonomy. The purpose of the benchmarking interviews was to get an understanding of how organizations have implemented the EU taxonomy by using project management practices and what obstacles they encountered. The empirical findings were then analyzed through a thematic coding. Main Findings: The findings from this research indicate that an agile project management approach while working in interdisciplinary teams is an appropriate approach for implementing the EU taxonomy. The sustainability and finance department are the primary ones involved of the interdisciplinary teams working with the project of implementing the EU taxonomy. In addition to the sustainability and finance departments, support from top management is required in the project in assigning resources and influencing the organization. While implementing a process for taxonomy-reporting, the findings further indicate both internal and external drivers of executing the project. The external drivers consist of stakeholders in terms of investors and analysts from banks, while the strive of achieving competitive advantages could be considered as an internal driver for implementing the EU taxonomy.