This European Commission The plan to include natural gas and nuclear energy in the “green” investment guidelines is facing strong opposition from Greta Thunberg and other climate activists.
After a period of intense political negotiations between Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, it is expected that both types of energy will become the EU’s “Sustainable Activities Classification” by the end of this year. The next part; French President Emmanuel Macron; and the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Olaf Scholz).
The EU classification is a green classification system designed to guide investors to carry out projects that meet European goals. Net zero emissions by 2050 And better protect nature.
An EU official stated that natural gas and nuclear energy may have an “amber” status, which means that they will not be in the “green” category with wind and solar, but will appear in the classification. A senior EU diplomat said that they would like to see the nuclear issue in the text because “Von der Lein seems to have promised Macron and other nuclear nations.”
The European Union’s efforts will be closely watched by the United Kingdom, which is formulating its own green taxonomy, which the government says will “help combat green drift-that is, unproven or exaggerated claims that investment is environmentally friendly.”
The EU classification law became law in July 2020, but legislators left important details that need to be resolved through a so-called authorization bill-secondary legislation aimed at solving technical problems that are not subject to the same level of supervision by ministers and parliaments.
Since then, the project has been overshadowed by fierce political quarrels, which culminated when EU leaders were forced to abandon plans to issue a joint statement on energy policy in Brussels last week. France wants to get a stamp of approval for nuclear energy, while Poland and Eastern European countries insist that natural gas is a “sustainable” investment.
The new Chancellor of the Social Democratic Party of Germany is facing pressure from partners in the Green Alliance, asking him not to succumb to the pressure to incorporate nuclear energy or natural gas into the system. Last week, Scholz downplayed the taxonomy to “a small problem with a broader topic.”
However, the growing expectations of French-German deals that include natural gas and nuclear energy in the taxonomy triggered a harsh response from Thunberg and his nine climate activists.In an article about Euractiv website, Young activists accused EU leaders of making empty promises at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, which ended in fragile hopes of maintaining peace. The goal is to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees CelsiusThey quoted the taxonomy and wrote: “There is no room for cowardly decisions, such as allowing such false climate action.”
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Bas Eickhout, a member of the Dutch Ministry of Green Environmental Protection and Vice Chairman of the European Parliament’s Environmental Committee, said that Von der Lein does not need to include natural gas and nuclear energy in the classification. “We have a taxonomy that is now in operation, and a green label for green activities has been agreed,” he said, referring to the first list of taxonomy that covers renewable energy and other green investments signed earlier this month. “We don’t need green labels for natural gas and nuclear energy.”
Including natural gas into the classification will be inconsistent with Cop26’s commitment Phase out fossil fuel subsidies, Eckhout said. “If Europe now starts calling [gas] Green then you can forget about 1.5 degrees. “
The European Commission is expected to release a draft classification on December 31 for several weeks of consultation with experts and the government. The final proposal may be announced on January 12, and can only be blocked by the vast majority of EU member states-a result no one expected.
