EU Taxonomy

Investments in Sustainable Finance

We at CMD International Group – believe that the environment and people must be valued in order to make global progress to improve society and achieve a sustainable world. Our company leaves its’ foodprint on the society and the environment through our work, through the services we provide and through the customers we partner with. Therefore, the principles of environment, social relations and management – Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) are at the base and guide all business activities that CMD International Group undertakes.

As a specialized consulting company in Bulgaria, we follow the sustainable development of the economy by offering new services related to assessing the sustainability of financial investments of our clients, according to the principles of the EU taxonomy and their contribution to achieving the “Green Transition”.

Together with our clients from the agricultural sector, financial and banking sectors, industry, energy, groups of interest and the public sector, we grow and develop by carrying out assessments, developing guidelines and recommendations and offering comprehensive solutions guarantee the construction of climate neutral: Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Economics and Finance.

For us, the impact of our activities on the environment is very important. Therefore, we at CMD International Group directed our efforts in this dimension. We believe that this priority is also priority for our clients. In order to be able to determine the carbon footprint activity of our clients and in accordance with ESG principles, to be able to recommend more sustainable technologies and management approaches that will bring our clients closer to achieving one of the goals of the Paris Agreement – reduction by 40 % of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Our projects are focused on optimizing operational results from an economic, environmental and social perspective – ESG. By applying the principles of the EU taxonomy we can determine which of our customers’ economic activities can be considered environmentally friendly. By analyzing the impact of the taxonomy we at CMD International Group can determine the potential costs and benefits of taxonomy application for our clients.

Since the founding of CMD International Group, we have been working on our own development, implementing the results of our activity to increase our efficiency, advising the investors to choose suitable projects and companies, guarantee the sustainability of investments and the opportunities for their funding.

We encourage public and private investment in sustainable growth. Our interdisciplinary team is a community of highly motivated and qualified professionals who possess a wide range of management, technical and natural science disciplines enabling us to combine different perspectives with synergies that optimize our consulting services.

 

Determining the activity of our clients as an environmentally friendly economic activity, we offer:

Market advantage generated by specific solutions to the following challenges:

  • reducing the fragmentation of market-oriented initiatives and national practices;
  • reduction of “green delusions”, i.e. the practice of marketing financial and other products presented as “green” or “sustainable” when in reality they do not meet basic environmental standards.

We at CMD International Group perform “Do no significant harm” (DNSH) assessments for any investment that can be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria or by the Operational Programs.

We offer assessments of the compliance of holdings/farms’ investment intentions with the objectives of the taxonomy and the “do no significant harm” principle.

We organize trainings for farmers, organizations and associations working in the field of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture to apply the principle of “do no significant harm“.

Our assessments are based on the EU’s six environmental goals:

Climate change mitigation

We offer guidelines for adapting the usual ones farm/farm activities to activities that contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, i.e. what combination of activities should be applied cumulatively as a minimum at the holding/farm level under the conditions of the relevant sectors and economic activities to achieve significant climate change mitigation.

For this purpose, we calculate the carbon emissions from the relevant activities and develop a plan to reduce them, through activities that are inherent and upgrade the farm.

Adaptation to climate change

We offer development and guidance for the implementation of additional activities and practices that contribute to the adaptation of agricultural holdings / farms to climate change.

We reduce the carbon intensity of an agricultural holdings/farm, calculate the carbon footprint and carbon credits for certification and sale on the free carbon market.

Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources

We offer solutions to identify and manage risks related to water quality and/or water consumption in agricultural holdings/farms in accordance with River Basin management plans to prevent and reduce pollution and achieve good ecological status of water bodies and marine resources.

Transition to a circular economy

We develop guidelines at agricultural holdings/farm level for waste prevention, recovery and reuse, recycling, including activities to reduce food waste and end-products from production, harvesting, etc.

We provide solutions to minimize the use of raw materials per unit of production and use innovation to achieve a circular economy.

Prevention and control of pollution

We develop plans to monitor pollutant emissions into the air, water and soil of farms/farms, implementing preventive controls to prevent them and a program to limit them.

The plans include an assessment of substances, vibrations, heat, noise, light or other pollutants generated by the operation of the agricultural holdings/farm in the air, water or soil that may be harmful to human health or the environment.

Protection and restoration of biological diversity and ecosystems

We provide assessment and proposals for improving the condition and sustainability of ecosystems, including maintenance and restoration of nature conseravtion status of natural habitats and species in the protected sites of the ecological network Natura 2000, protection and restoration of traditional elements of the landscape, restoration of wetlands, etc.

We develop agricultural holdings/farm ‘natural capital’ assessments and plans for their sustainable use.

 

Assessing our clients’ economic activities as ‘supporting’ or ‘transitional’ in terms of the principles of the EU taxonomy, as well as whether they meet the requirements of the EC technical guidelines for the compliance of Recovery and Resilience Plans, so that they are eligible for funding:

  • …do they significantly contribute to the realization of at least one of the six environmental goals listed above;
  • …whether they do not cause significant damage to any of the environmental objectives;
  • …whether they are carried out in compliance with minimum social guarantees;
  • …whether they meet specific technical verification criteria.

According to the Regulation on Recovery and Resilience Plans – Regulation (EU) 2021/241, Member States must provide a DNSH (Do no significant harm assessment) for each measure (i.e. each reform and each investment) of the plan ( Article 14 of the Regulation), which is why the European Commission has introduced a “simplified approach” for measures that:

  • have no or negligible foreseeable impact on one of the six environmental objectives, or
  • are tracked as 100% supporting one of the six environmental objectives (according to the methodology in Annex IIA to the Regulation), or
  • “contribute significantly”, according to the Taxonomy Regulation, to one of the six environmental objectives.

In this regard, we assist in carrying out self-assessments for compliance with the DNSH principle as one of the requirements of the Regulation on Recovery and Resilience Plans allowing the financing of only those projects that do not negatively affect one or more of the 6 environmental objectives defined in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852.

This initiative aims to ensure that none of the measures included in the recovery and resilience plans of the Member States can lead to a delay in the achievement of the objectives of sustainable development in the European Union.