Annex 2. Aid to environment, DRR and Rio markers

This annex is concerned with the aid to environment and the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policy markers, as well as with the four Rio markers (biodiversity, combating desertification, climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation).

These markers are defined by the OECD DAC, which has developed guidelines for their application, including eligibility criteria.  The Commission strives to strictly follow the DAC methodology. 

Possible marker scores

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Each marker can have one of three possible values:

• Principal objective (marker score 2)
• Significant objective (marker score 1)
• Not targeted (marker score 0)

An objective (e.g. climate change mitigation, biodiversity) is considered ‘principal’ when it is explicitly stated as fundamental in the design of, or the motivation for, the action. Promoting the objective will thus be stated in the documentation to be one of the principal reasons for undertaking the action. In other words, the action would not have been funded (or designed that way) but for that objective.

An objective can be considered as ‘significant’ when it is explicitly stated but is not a fundamental driver or motivation for undertaking and designing the action. The action has other prime objectives and has been formulated or adjusted to help meet the relevant environmental concerns.

The score not targeted means that the action is not contributing specifically to the policy or Rio objective.

Notice that the methodology is purpose-based, i.e., activities are marked according to their stated objectives and purpose and not primarily in relation to their impacts, outcomes or possible side-effects. Explicit intent to target the policy or Rio theme is necessary to justify a marker score of ‘principal’ or ‘significant’ objective.

It is important that the relation between the activity and the objective (e.g. climate change adaptation) is clearly communicated and made explicit, especially when a principal objective score is claimed.

As well, activities arising from a national action plan linked to a Rio Convention (e.g. Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan) can automatically qualify as principal objective, as the Conventions provide the motivation for the design of the activity.

It is possible that an action targets more than one policy or Rio theme and thus qualifies for more than one Rio marker.

Further details on the scoring system can be found in the DAC CRS Reporting Directives.

Field of application and exceptions

Rio markers are applicable to all bilateral ODA and non-export credit (OOF), excluding:

• general budget support (type of aid A01)
• imputed student costs (E02)
• debt relief (F01), except debt swaps
• administrative costs (G01)
• development awareness (H01)
• refugees in donor countries (H02)

Multilateral contributions (B02) should not be marked with Rio markers individually by DAC members. Instead, international organisations report on the actual allocation of their funds (‘multilateral outflows’) and apply Rio markers to these outflows.

Consistency between marker scores, type of aid, targeted SDGs and DAC purpose codes

Consistency between type of aid and targeted SDGs

As indicated in the ‘field of application’ section above, general budget support (type of aid A01) cannot be Rio marked. However, some general budget support actions do target explicitly climate change or biodiversity; in these cases, the contributions are tracked and reported internally in the European Commission based on the targeted SDGs. Thus, if a general budget support (or A01) action targets SDG13 as ‘principal’, 100 % of the action’s budget will be accounted as contributing to the climate target, and 40 % of SDG13 is targeted as ‘significant’. The same applies to the biodiversity target based on whether the action targets SDGs 14 or 15.

For this reason, it is necessary to check the SDGs targeted by a general budget support action, and make sure that SDGs 13, 14 and 15 are selected based on the eligibility criteria for the climate and biodiversity markers.

Consistency between the markers and the CRS purpose codes

As per the CRS Reporting Checklist (DCD/DAC/STAT(2023)14), consistency between markers and CRS purpose codes should be achieved according to the following principles.

• An action that targets any of the General Environment Protection purpose codes (i.e. 410xx) must indicate Aid to Environment as a principal objective, irrespective of the percentage of the action that targets the 410xx code. Therefore, if the percentage of the action’s budget that targets the purpose code in question is low, it is suggested to delete the reference to that purpose code. On the contrary, if the percentage is high, it should be considered whether it makes sense to indicate the Aid to Environment marker as ‘principal objective’.
• An action that targets purpose code 43060 (Disaster Risk Reduction) or 74020 (multi-hazard response preparedness) must indicate DRR as principal objective. Thus, any action that does not target DRR as a principal objective should not indicate purpose codes 43060 or 74020.
• An action that targets purpose code 41030 (Biodiversity) must indicate the biodiversity marker as principal objective. Thus, any action that does not target biodiversity as a principal objective should not indicate purpose code 41030.

Consistency between the aid to environment marker and the Rio markers

The Aid to Environment marker score cannot be lower than the highest Rio marker, although this is not automatic for Climate Change Adaptation. For example, if an action has Biodiversity as ‘significant objective’, then Aid to Environment cannot be indicated as ‘not targeted’.

Definitions and eligibility criteria

Aid to environment

An activity should be classified as environment-oriented (score principal or significative) if:

1. 1. it is intended to produce an improvement, or something that is diagnosed as an improvement, in the physical and/or biological environment of the recipient country, area or target group concerned; or
   2. it includes specific action to integrate environmental concerns with a range of development objectives through institution building and/or capacity development.

Eligibility criteria:

1. 1. The objective is explicitly promoted in activity documentation; and
   2. the activity contains specific measures to protect or enhance the physical and/or biological environment it affects, or to remedy existing environmental damage; or
   3. the activity contains specific measures to develop or strengthen environmental policies, legislation and administration or other organisations responsible for environmental protection.

Disaster Risk Reduction

An activity should be marked as DRR-related (score principal or significant) if:

It promotes the goal and global targets of the Sendai Framework to achieve substantial reduction of disaster risks and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.

Eligibility criteria:

The activity contributes to:

1. 1. the prevention of new disaster risk, and/or
   2. the reduction of existing disaster risk, and/or
   3. the strengthening of resilience

through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, and increase preparedness for response and recovery with the explicit purpose of increasing human security, well-being, quality of life, resilience, and sustainable development.

The activity will score ‘principal objective’ if it directly and explicitly contributes to at least one of the four priorities for action of the Sendai Framework:

• Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk
• Priority 2: strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk
• Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
• Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to ‘Build Back Better’ in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Biodiversity

An activity should be marked as biodiversity related (score principal or significant) if:

It contributes to at least one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components (ecosystems, species or genetic resources), and/ or fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of the utilisation of genetic resources.

This encompasses activities that contribute to the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Eligibility criteria:

The activity documentation explicitly mentions specific measures that contribute to:

1. 1. conservation or enhancement of ecosystems, species or genetic resources, and/or enhancement of the sustainability of their use, and/or their restoration, and/or measures that maintain, restore, and/or enhance ecological integrity, ecosystem functions and services, and ecosystem connectivity, including through measures such as pollution reduction; or
   2. integration of biodiversity and its multiple values (e.g. ecosystem services) within recipient countries' development objectives, economic and sectoral regulations, planning and decision making processes (including poverty eradication strategies, national development plans and sectoral plans and strategies, strategic environmental assessments, environmental impact assessments, and budgeting and national accounting), within and across all levels of government, through measures such as institution building, capacity development, technical assistance, statistical activities, strengthening the regulatory and policy frameworks, scientific research and collaboration, innovation and technology access, development and transfer, knowledge management and stakeholder engagement, awareness raising and education; or
   3. elimination, phasing out or reform of incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity, and scaling up of positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; or
   4. maintenance, sustainable management and restoration of genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and farmed and domesticated animals, including native fish stocks or native wild species of living organisms, through the application of biodiversity-friendly practices, and ensuring social, economic and environmental benefits for people; or
   5. promotion of fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from the utilisation of genetic resources, and from digital sequence information on genetic resources, where appropriate, as well as traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, as applicable, including by facilitating appropriate access to genetic resources; or establishing, strengthening capacity building for, and implementing biosafety measures, and measures for the handling of biotechnology and distribution of its benefits, as internationally agreed; or
   6. developing countries' efforts to meet their obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the KMGBF, including implementing National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) and National Biodiversity Finance Plans; or
   7. implement nature-based solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges that explicitly benefit biodiversity, as defined by UNEA-Resolution 5/5, including through actions that help protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, and/or through ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction, that simultaneously provide human well-being, ecosystem services and resilience.

The activity will score ‘principal objective’ if it directly and explicitly aims to achieve one or more of the above three criteria.

Combating Desertification

An activity should be classified as desertification-related (score principal or significant) if:

It aims at combating desertification or mitigating the effects of drought in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas through prevention and/or reduction of land degradation, rehabilitation of partly degraded land, or reclamation of desertified land.

Eligibility criteria:

The activity contributes to:

1. 1. protecting or enhancing dryland ecosystems or remedying existing environmental damage; or
   2. integration of desertification concerns with recipient countries’ development objectives through institution building, capacity development, strengthening the regulatory and policy framework, or research; or
   3. developing countries’ efforts to meet their obligations under the Convention.

The activity will score ‘principal objective’ if it directly and explicitly relates to one or more of the above criteria, including in the context of the realisation of national, sub-regional or regional action programmes.

Climate Change Mitigation

An activity should be classified as climate change mitigation related (score principal or significant) if:

It contributes to the objective of stabilisation of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system by promoting efforts to reduce or limit GHG emissions or to enhance GHG removal by sinks, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Eligibility criteria:

The activity contributes to:

1. 1. the mitigation of climate change by limiting anthropogenic emissions of GHGs, including gases regulated by the Montreal Protocol; or
   2. the protection and/or enhancement of GHG sinks and reservoirs; or
   3. the integration of climate change concerns with the recipient countries’ development objectives through institution building, capacity development, strengthening the regulatory and policy framework, or research; or
   4. developing countries’ efforts to meet their obligations under the Convention and the Paris agreement, namely the implementation and enhancement of mitigation actions.

The activity will score ‘principal objective’ if it directly and explicitly aims to achieve one or more of the above four criteria.

Climate Change Adaptation

An activity should be classified as adaptation related (score principal or significant) if:

It intends to reduce the vulnerability of human or natural systems to the current and expected impacts of climate change, including climate variability, by maintaining or increasing resilience, through increased ability to adapt to, or absorb, climate change stresses, shocks and variability and/or by helping reduce exposure to them, in line with the Paris Agreement.

This encompasses a range of activities, from information and knowledge generation, to capacity development, planning and the implementation of climate change adaptation actions.

Eligibility criteria:

1. 1. The climate change adaptation objective is explicitly indicated in the activity documentation; and
   2. The activity contains specific measures targeting the definition above.

Carrying out a Climate Risk Assessment of vulnerability to climate variability and change, either separately or as an integral part of standard procedures, facilitates this approach.

To guide scoring, a three-step approach is recommended as “best practice”, in particular to justify a ‘principal objective’ score:

• Setting out the context of risks, vulnerabilities and impacts related to climate variability and climate change: For a project to be considered as one that contributes to adaptation to climate change, the context of climate vulnerability should be set out clearly using a robust evidence base. This could take a variety of forms, including use of material from existing analyses and reports, or original, bespoke climate vulnerability assessment analysis carried out as part of the preparation of a project.
• Stating the intent to address the identified risks, vulnerabilities and impacts in project documentation: The project should set out how it intends to address the context- and location-specific climate change vulnerabilities, as set out in existing analyses, reports or the project’s climate vulnerability assessment.
• Demonstrating a clear and direct link between the identified risks, vulnerabilities and impacts and the specific project activities: The project should explicitly address risk and vulnerabilities under current and future climate change as identified in the project documentation.

Markers and EU financial reporting

Actions are reported to contribute 100 % of their budget to a given policy or Rio theme if the corresponding marker is scored as ‘principal objective’, and 40 % if a ‘significant objective’. There will be no reported contribution (0 %) for markers that are considered ‘not targeted’.

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This doesn’t mean that the actual budgetary contributions match those percentages, but they should not deviate significantly.

Borderline cases and frequent shortcomings

The marker definitions, eligibility criteria and guidance provide a number of elements to minimize the subjective component in assigning marker scores. Nevertheless, there are always borderline cases that are subject to interpretation. Some common shortcomings are described below.

• Indirect contributions are often taken as sufficient basis to grant a ‘significant objective’ marker. However, it must be remembered that the policy or Rio theme in question must be explicitly targeted, and it must be clear from the intervention logic how they will be addressed.
• Adding text to the section on ‘mainstreaming’ of the action document is useful, but not sufficient to justify a marker. The relevant policy or Rio theme elements must be explicitly targeted and evidence on how it is addressed should be clear across the logic of intervention.
• In the case of climate change adaptation it is necessary for the climate vulnerability context to be described, and it must be clear from the action document how the action will address it.
• If a ‘principal objective’ is claimed, it is highly recommended that associated indicators are included; after all, the policy or Rio theme in question is being claimed as one of the ‘principal’ objectives of the action.
• Although the eligibility criteria are not related to budget assignations, given that the marker scores are translated by the Commission into financial contributions based on agreed coefficients, the budget dedicated to a particular theme can help decide on the adequate marker score.
• It is not obvious how to mark action documents making contributions to investment facilities or to the EFSD+ Common Provisioning Fund, as the precise activities that will be eventually financed are not known. Those actions may be marked based on the types of projects that they commonly finance.
• Due to their nature, action documents for Support Measure and Technical Cooperation Facilities present particular challenges. Dedicated guidance is available on the scoring of Rio markers for these actions (see the section on further guidance and resources below).

Further guidance and resources

The document Scoring of the Rio markers and the policy markers for Aid to Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction – Compilation of guidance material provides hyperlinks to all the relevant sources and guidance material.

The Tutorial video on Rio markers provides the basics of Rio markers and how to score them, as well as a reminder of the biodiversity and climate spending targets.

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The OECD DAC Converged Statistical Reporting Directives for the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and the Annual DAC Questionnaire; Annexes – modules D and E presents the definitions and eligibility criteria for policy and Rio markers.  Annex 20 of the above document includes indicative tables of activities by sector that can qualify for the climate and biodiversity markers. Indicative tables for the Desertification marker are under preparation.

The Quick Tips is a series that presents practical guidance for the greening of a number of sectors. Each of the Quick Tips document related to a sector is accompanied by an Annex that presents guidance on activities that typically qualify for a Rio marker in that specific sector. These tables draw largely from the OECD DAC indicative tables, but provide additional elements, especially in relation to the marker on combating desertification.

If you have any questions on the correct scoring of the markers, you can contact the Greening Facility:

📧  INTPA-GREENING-FACILITY@ec.europa.eu

📧  ENEST-GREENING-FACILITY@europa.eu