Plans to include nuclear power and gas in the EU’s sustainable financing taxonomy were hit by the European Parliament. According to Parliament’s committees, the Commission’s proposal on taxonomy should be rejected.
BRUSSELS According to the majority of the European Parliament’s Environment and Economic Affairs Committees, the proposal to classify nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable energy should be repealed. 76 MEPs voted in favor of the repeal and 62 against.
The taxonomy, ie the rating system for sustainable finance, is intended to direct funding to climate-sustainable destinations. Nuclear power and gas, which are important energy sources, would be included in the Commission’s proposal for a transitional period.
In the case of nuclear power, the deadline for new investments included in the taxonomy would be in 2045. After 2035, gas-fired power plants financed under the taxonomy must use only renewable and low-emission energy sources.
Is the green classification watered down?
In particular, the role of gas as a sustainable energy source has been criticized as being contrary to climate goals.
Underlying this is a political compromise between nuclear-dependent and gas-dependent countries.
– In practice, the question is whether we call natural gas green or not, a Member of the European Parliament from the left. Silvia Modig seal.
According to Modig, the Commission’s taxonomic proposal should be rejected. In his view, it is clear that natural gas is a climate-harmful energy source that does not deserve a separate sustainability label.
How is Finland’s nuclear power going?
Coalition Party Sirpa Pietikäinen fears that all green funding will be watered down if nuclear power and natural gas are classified as sustainable energy.
– Is the EU making a big greenwashing project or a science-based standard for tackling climate change and biodiversity loss?
Many Finnish MEPs, for their part, hope that the Commission’s proposal will pass. The background is to secure the position of nuclear power, which is important for Finland, as part of the EU’s sustainable financing.
– Nuclear energy is an important part of zero-emission energy production for us and it is obvious that its costs will increase after the classification decision of the financial sector, demarimeppi Eero Heinäluoma assess the consequences of rejecting the Commission’s proposal.
The plenary session will decide the fate of the taxonomy
Parliament is still considering the rejection in plenary in July.
– There will be a very interesting debate and a pressured vote in July when the whole parliament takes a stand on the matter, Heinäluoma estimates.
If a majority in Parliament opposes the rejection, the Commission’s proposal will fail. As a result, nuclear power and gas may not be classified in EU taxonomy.
– The Commission may also present a new proposal, acceptable to Parliament, to the French MEP chairing the Committee on the Environment. Pascal Canfin (Renew) tells .
However, the new proposal must also be acceptable to the member states, Canfin emphasizes.
What thoughts does the thing evoke in you? Is the EU classification system ambitious enough? You can discuss the topic here until Thursday, June 16 at 11 p.m.