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The European Commission (EC) presented this February 2 its final proposal so that nuclear energy and gas, in some plants, be declared as “green” investments. It is a plan that has divided countries and investors and that some European Union (EU) legislators will try to block.
The Executive of the European Commission is committed to classifying as “green” investments in nuclear energy and gas, but the controversial proposal could be blocked by legislators of the European Parliament.
After months of intense disputes within the countries of the European Union (EU), through a delegated act, the EC proposes new rules so that some gas and nuclear power plants are declared “sustainable” with the environment.
The new provisions would be included in the so-called ‘Taxonomy’ proposal. This is the set of rules that the EU has arranged to distinguish between environmentally friendly energies and those that are not, in order to guide investments.
All in the midst of the ecological transition to which the block of 27 has committed, essentially to reach the great goal of zero net emissions by the year 2050.
The EC proposal has been controversial, since on the contrary it is seen by many MEPs as a threat to the climate objectives not being met.
In the midst of criticism, the EC proposes that gas and nuclear energy be classified as “green” only in those plants that meet certain conditions. Among them, nuclear power plants with a construction permit before 2045 and gas plants that emit less than 270 grams of CO2 per kilowatt/hour until 2031 or less than 100 grams in their entire useful life.
Also if the facility switches to renewable or low-carbon gases, such as biomass or hydrogen produced with renewable energy, by 2035.
In addition, the Community Executive proposes that the classification be for “a limited period”.
“We are exposing how gas and nuclear energy could contribute to the difficult transition towards climate neutrality (…) We are establishing strict conditions for their inclusion in the taxonomy,” said the head of EU financial services, Mairead McGuinness.
A “green wash”?
Environmental organizations reject the EC proposal and call the proposed transition a “greenwash” as it could threaten the bloc’s attempt to become neutral in polluting gases by 2050, as it has promised.
The big question is: how exactly does the European Union intend to achieve its climate goals?
Europe’s Climate Action Network reported that the EU Commission “sacrifices the scientific integrity of taxonomy on the altar of fossil gas and nuclear lobbyists” and failed to “redirect financial flows towards genuinely positive investments for the weather”.
Critics point out that the EU needs the aforementioned classification for economic reasons. The European Recovery Fund for the pandemic, which contemplates up to 800,000 million euros in jointly issued debt, requires that at least 40% of the resources go to promote the transition to green energies.
The potential changes also come as Europe grapples with rising energy prices and concerns about its dependence on gas it imports from Russia amid political tensions over Ukraine.
Now, lawmakers in the European Parliament have four months to potentially block the rules. Twenty of the 27 countries are expected to oppose it.
EU legislators indicated this Wednesday, February 2, that they would campaign to obtain the 353 votes necessary to block the proposal and that they already have approximately 250.
With Reuters, EFE and local media