EU sees role for gas and nuclear in energy transition
The European Commission (EC) called on January 1 for some natural gas and nuclear investments to be included in the EU's taxonomy for what qualifies as sustainable finance, prompting criticism from some member states.
The commission said it had begun consultations with a member states expert group on proposed changes to the taxonomy. The EU's energy mix varies from one member state to another, it said, noting that some countries still relied heavily on coal-fired power and heating.
"The taxonomy provides for energy activities that enable member states to move towards climate neutrality from such different positions," the commission said. "Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, as well as varying transition challenges across member states, the commission considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future."
The EC cautioned that there would be "clear and tight conditions" for classifying gas and nuclear investments as sustainable. Gas projects must be based on renewable sources, such as bio-methane or hydrogen, or otherwise produce low emissions, by 2035, it said.
A number of east and south EU member states have positioned gas as a central part of their transition plans. Poland for example, which for years defended its coal industry from EU criticism, has now embraced gas as a substitute. It is developing several new gas import projects, and is building new gas power plants.
Not all member states share this support for gas, however. And Europe is similarly divided over nuclear power, which while not emitting CO2, produces toxic waste and is seen by some as a danger post-Fukushima. Countries including France and Poland have pushed strongly for its inclusion in the EU taxonomy, whereas others like Germany, Austria and Luxembourg fiercely oppose it.
Germany's economy and climate action minister Robert Habeck said the plans "water down the good label for sustainability," telling German news agency DPA that it was "questionable whether this greenwashing will even find acceptance on the financial market."
Germany 's government committed to phasing out atomic energy in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The country closed half of its nuclear capacity, some 4 GW, at the end of last year and plans to shut down a further 4 GW by the end of 2022.
Germany's finance minister Christian Lindner told German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung that the country needed gas-fired power as it phases out both nuclear and coal. "I am grateful that arguments were apparently taken up by the commission," he said.
Austria's government meanwhile threatened to sue the commission if its proposals were adopted following negotiations with member states and the European Parliament. The country's climate action minister Leonore Gewessler said neither gas nor nuclear should be included in the taxonomy as "they are harmful to the climate and the environment and destroy the future of our children."
"We will examine the current draft carefully and have already commissioned a legal opinion on nuclear power in the taxonomy," Gewessler said. "If these plans are implemented in this way, we will sue."