The recent proposal by the European Commission (EC) to list nuclear power stations and fossil gas power stations in the EU’s sustainable investment list of ways to produce energy in a climate- and nature-friendly way has been met with criticism from the EC’s own sustainable funding experts, Belgian news portal EurActiv reports.
According to the draft proposal sent out by the EC on December 31, 2021, gas-fired power plants would receive a «transitional» investment label if they use «at least 30% of renewable or low-carbon gases as of January 1, 2026, and at least 55% of renewable or low-carbon gases as of 1 January 2030». From of January 1, 2036, the EC sets forth that all gas-fired power plants would have to «switch to renewable or low-carbon gases» to comply with the EU’s green investment label.
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In an opinion piece released on Monday, January 24, the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, which advises to the EC, criticised the EU executive body’s proposal, reasoning that fossil gas and nuclear power cannot be considered green under present circumstances. In line with EU’s own rules, no technology can be considered green if it inflicts significant harm on any of the taxonomy’s six environmental objectives – climate change mitigation and adaptation, water protection, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention, and biodiversity protection.
Importantly, the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance agree that nuclear and gas power production can contribute to the EU’s decarbonisation objectives; however, they say the taxonomy is not the right place to promote them, pointing to other legislative tools can achieve this target, EurActiv reports.
EK criticised for considering atomic and fossil gas sustainable energy resources for transition
