Parliament committees object to EU’s ‘green’ label for gas, nuclear

Two European Parliament committees on Tuesday (14 June) backed an attempt to stop the EU labelling gas and nuclear energy as climate-friendly investments, setting the stage for a full Parliament vote that could reject the rules next month.

The committees backed a resolution which attempts to block a plan by the European Commission to include gas and nuclear in the European Union’s taxonomy – a list of “sustainable” investments designed to steer private capital towards those that support climate change targets.

EU countries and lawmakers are split over whether the fuels are green enough to earn that label – and could yet reject the EU proposal.

The full European Parliament will vote on the resolution in early July. If it gets support from at least half of its 705 lawmakers, it would block the gas and nuclear rules.

The text, backed by Parliament’s environment and economic committees on Tuesday, said gas and nuclear cannot be considered sustainable based on existing EU laws, and labelling them as green would confuse investors.

It passed with 76 votes in favour and 62 against.

“We need massive investment in the expansion of renewable energies, not the energies of the past,” said Green lawmaker Bas Eickhout, one of those who submitted the resolution.

The Commission says gas and nuclear plants must meet “strict conditions” to earn the green label, including emissions limits that could include gas plants with relatively-high CO2 emissions today if they plan to switch to low-carbon gas or reduce their running hours in later years.

The rules reflect disagreements among countries over which energy sources to use to meet climate goals.

Nuclear opponents like Germany cite concerns over waste disposal, while pro-nuclear states including France say the CO2-free energy source is crucial to meet climate targets.

Meanwhile, the invasion of Ukraine by top gas supplier Russia has heightened divisions about reliance on gas. Eastern European countries have said gas investments are needed to replace more-polluting coal, while others say labelling CO2-emitting gas as sustainable undermines efforts to curb climate change.

“This vote allows us to reduce our dependency on Russian gas and counter our citizens’ skyrocketing energy bills by investing in renewables instead of gas,” said Paul Tang, from the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group. “Today’s vote is a strong message to the Commission. This parliament will not accept institutionalised greenwashing,” he added.

In a statement, the S&D underlined that its “firm opposition will be also confirmed in the final vote next month in plenary”.

Swedish MEP Emma Wiesner, a member of the centrist Renew Europe group, celebrated the vote as “a great victory” and “a slap in the face” for the Commission.

“I didn’t think we would make it and now we win with a pretty broad majority actually. It was quite a clear victory,” she told EURACTIV.

According to Wiesner, the motion passed by a clear majority also in the Parliament’s economic affairs committee, which she interpreted as a good sign in view of the July vote in plenary.

She regretted however that colleagues from the Renew group had voted against the motion.

“I’m a bit disappointed with the Renew group to be honest,” she told EURACTIV, suggesting that some centrist MEPs had fallen “in the game of the French and the German hijacking this process” by choosing not to support the objection.

Activist investor groups have denounced the Commission’s attempt to include gas in the taxonomy, saying this is incompatible with Europe’s climate ambition.

Reacting to the vote on Tuesday, they called on the European Parliament to definitely kill the proposal when the matter is voted in plenary next month.

“Today’s votes were a step forward but ultimately it’s now down to the Parliament to correct this mistake of including fossil gas and nuclear in the taxonomy,” said Anders Schelde, Chief Investment Officer at Danish pension fund AkademikerPension.

Cross-party alliance seeks to block nuclear and gas from EU’s green taxonomy

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have formed a cross-party coalition in an attempt to block nuclear energy and fossil gas from receiving a green investment label under the EU’s green finance taxonomy.

[Edited by Frédéric Simon]

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