The European regulation, known as the Green Taxonomy (EU Regulation 2020/852) is part of the implementation of the action plan for sustainable finance, whose objective is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Taxonomy Regulation introduces reporting obligations for non-financial and financial companies based on a classification to define environmentally sustainable economic activities. This classification aims in particular to redirect flows towards so-called sustainable investments.
The European Taxonomy has set a framework around six objectives. At the date of publication of this document, only the first two have been the subject of a delegated regulation of the European Commission:
Publicis Groupe must carry out an analysis of its activities that can meet the expected eligibility criteria defined in the Climate Taxonomy Delegated Act (EU 2021/21393) as well as the alignment criteria.
The Groupe is required to publish the three required indicators on the description of eligible activities and for those ineligible: revenue, CapEx (capital expenditure) and OpEx (operational expenditure).
An activity is said to be “eligible” when it is included in the evolving list of activities appearing in the delegated acts of the Taxonomy Regulation insofar as it contributes to the six aforementioned environmental objectives.
The analysis of the Company’s activities was carried out on the basis of NACE codes and a more qualitative analysis of certain activities, with checks at local and central level. The European taxonomy primarily covers the activities with the greatest impact on the climate. Under current regulations, several of the Groupe’s activities such as advertising creation and communication are not eligible.
Among the activities listed in the taxonomy, the following two categories have been retained as eligible to date:
The methodology used for Taxonomy reporting is explained in Section 4.6 “CSR Reporting Methodology” of this document.
Revenue
In 2022, the Groupe’s revenue amounted to euro 14,196 million and corresponds to the amount shown in the Groupe’s consolidated income statement.
Eligible revenue amounts to euro 2,002 million and corresponds to the Groupe’s activities classified in category J63.11 “Data processing, hosting and related activities” and a very small part of activities M70.21 “Public relations and communication consulting” i.e. 14.1% of the Groupe’s revenue. Epsilon’s activities are the main ones concerned.
Capital expenditure (“CapEx”)
In 2022, capital expenditure related to the Groupe’s property, plant and equipment and intangible assets amounted to euro 198 million and corresponds to the amount shown in the Groupe’s statement of cash flows. The share of eligible capital expenditure related to elgible revenue amounts to euro 54 million and corresponds to the investments made as part of the development of the Epsilon platforms.
CapEx also includes increases in right-of-use assets related to real estate leases for euro 120 million (see Note 24 to the consolidated financial statements). These investments are 100% eligible and represent the majority of eligible CapEx.
As a result, the amount of eligible CapEx amounted to euro 174 million, i.e., 54.7% of the Groupe’s CapEx.
Operating expenses (“OpEx”)
In 2022, the indicator relating to operating expenses as defined by the Taxonomy mainly concerns office upkeep and maintenance expenses. However, this indicator is not considered significant.
