EU Taxonomy DNSH for biodiversity: answering the site question, site by site
The EU Taxonomy's 'do no significant harm' criterion for the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems is set out in Appendix D of Annex I and II to the Climate Delegated Act (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139). It asks that an environmental impact assessment or screening has been completed where required, and that for sites in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas — the Natura 2000 network, World Heritage sites, Key Biodiversity Areas and other protected areas — an appropriate assessment has been carried out where applicable. Before any of that can be shown, someone has to establish, per site, whether it is in or near such an area. ERWAY Legality Assessment answers that question for every site polygon, with the record behind the answer.
For a company assessing an activity's alignment, or a bank assessing a loan's, the site question is the gate: if no site is in or near a sensitive area, the appropriate-assessment branch of Appendix D does not open. The product checks each site against international protected-area records, World Heritage sites and protected wetlands, reports the overlap in hectares and the relation to each designation, and dates every check. Natura 2000 sites appear where the international records carry them as an international designation; Key Biodiversity Areas are not a layer in the product, and the Natura 2000 pre-screening page says where the official register remains the authority. The SFDR PAI 7 indicator uses the same definition on the investor's side.
What Appendix D asks
Two things. First, that an environmental impact assessment or screening procedure has been completed in accordance with the EIA Directive, and that the required mitigation and compensation measures are implemented. Second, that for sites or operations located in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas, an appropriate assessment has been conducted where applicable, and the necessary mitigation measures implemented. 'Biodiversity-sensitive areas' is defined by reference to Natura 2000, World Heritage, Key Biodiversity Areas and other protected areas.
What the product answers, and what it does not
Per site: in or near a protected area, with the category, the class and the hectares; in or near a heritage site, with the footprint's confidence; inside, near or far from a protected wetland; on Indigenous or community land, with the tenure status. Not answered: whether an EIA was completed, whether an appropriate assessment was conducted, or whether the site is in a Key Biodiversity Area. The output is the site register that the DNSH assessment cites, not the assessment.
Who uses it
Sustainability teams preparing the Taxonomy KPIs under CSRD; banks computing the green asset ratio and lending against Taxonomy-aligned projects; issuers of green bonds that rely on Taxonomy alignment and its DNSH criteria. In each case the site list already exists — as collateral, as an asset register, as a project pipeline — and the screening turns it into a per-site record with dates.