Brussels, Feb. 2 (BNA): The European Commission is set to adopt on Wednesday hotly contested legislation classifying natural gas and nuclear power projects as green investments under certain conditions.
Draft regulations for the European Union’s executive body – which were delivered to member states in December – have divided the EU, sparking a backlash from environmental groups, and drawing condemnation by climate experts consulted in the German news agency dpa, German news agency DPA reported. Drafting legislation. .
The legislation is an update of an investment rating system called the rating, which aims to direct private investment to help the European Union meet its 2050 climate goals of “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions.
The Commission defended the inclusion of nuclear and gas energy as a practical decision to aid the transition to renewables.
Under the classification project, investments in new gas-fired power plants before 2030 are classified as green if total emissions are less than 270 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilowatt-hour.
To include investments in nuclear energy, the power plant must be up to the latest technological standards and have an approved atomic waste disposal plan in operation by 2050 at the latest.
But critics charge that the long-term risks of radioactive waste and environmental damage outweigh any absence of carbon emissions and argue that fossil fuels like gas have absolutely no place in the rankings.
The opposition of EU member states to the classification reflects different economic priorities and how countries generate energy – with different governments divided between subsidizing nuclear, gas or renewables.
France, one of the world’s largest producers of nuclear energy, lobbied hard for the classification to include nuclear power with the support of Poland and Hungary.
Germany, on the other hand, takes a strong stance in favor of gas but opposes nuclear power, and Berlin has insisted on making gas investment standards more flexible with some success.
The 2026 deadline for gas-fired power plants has now been scrapped to show the shift to more climate-friendly sources found in an earlier draft classification.
New gas-fired power plants replacing older facilities would have to meet less stringent emissions limits as well, according to the draft.
On Tuesday, Sweden sent a letter to the committee, seen by dpa, opposing the inclusion of “activities based on fossil gas”.
In January, Denmark and Austria strongly opposed the inclusion of both nuclear and gas energy in the classification along with Spain and Luxembourg.
Luxembourg and Austria, the executive arm of the European Union, have also threatened legal action over the draft regulations.
The private sector also expressed opposition. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), which includes major banks such as HSBC and BNP Paribas, has called for the gas to be excluded from the rating.
The European Union’s European Investment Bank also drew criticism.
The changes are an update of existing legislation based on consultations with financial and environmental experts from the 27 member states of the European Union.
Those same experts were highly critical of the panel’s decision to classify gas and nuclear power as sustainable investments in their remarks last month.
The designation will come into effect, unless the European Parliament or the European Council, which represents EU member states, suspend investment rules in the next four to six months.
To do this, a majority of 20 of the 27 member states, or 353 parliamentarians, is needed – a high threshold that is unlikely to be met.
MI