Parliament wants private investment in natural gas and nuclear power to contribute to the EU's energy transition towards more renewable sources
Last week, it was determined by the European Parliament, during a plenary session, that natural gas and nuclear energy started to be classified as renewable energy sources. In this way, projects that make use of these matrices will receive the “green seal” of the European Union (EU), which will enable their access to private investments to speed up the bloc's energy transition process.
The proposal, made by the European Commission in February, obtained 278 votes in favor, 328 against and 33 abstentions. However, it took 353 opposing legislators for Parliament to be able to veto it, so the project ended up approved by MEPs.
Now, the European Council, a body formed by the heads of state and government of the member countries of the European Union, is the one who should judge the text. The most likely scenario is that there is no objection to the proposal and, in this case, the Delegated Taxonomy Act will come into effect from January 1st of the next year.
In a statement, Parliament stated that the classification of certain fossil gas and nuclear energy activities as transitional practices that help mitigate climate change was proposed due to the fact that the Commission believes in private investment in gas and nuclear energy as an important part of green transition.
Legislative emphasizes that the amendment is dependent on specific conditions and transparency requirements
In addition, the European legislation also highlighted that, for natural gas and nuclear energy to be considered renewable energy sources, specific conditions and transparency requirements will be taken into account.
According to the Financial Times, one of those conditions is that projects with natural gas and nuclear energy are approved in place of other energy sources classified as more harmful to the environment, like oil and coal.
Furthermore, the law also requires that polluting gas emissions be limited and that regulations for the disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants be complied with. With this, the objective is to ensure that the block's energy comes 100% from renewable sources by the year 2035.
According to the opinion of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, it is very likely and convincing that the measure will contribute to accelerating the bloc's transition to renewable energy sources, at a time when European countries are seeking to reduce dependence on gas sold by Russia by up to 90% by the end of this year.
The approval of the proposal faces criticism from environmentalists and encounters resistance in Parliament
On the other hand, the measure was heavily criticized by environmental activists, in addition to having encountered resistance in Parliament. In the opinion of a representative of the Greenpeace Europe, the articulation to approve the text was “shameful”. She also insinuated that the proposal would have been intermediated by a lobby of the nuclear and fossil fuel industries, while also expressing the desire to fight the project in the courts.
In this regard, countries such as Austria and Luxembourg have also stated that they will challenge the law at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler argues that it is clear that both nuclear energy and fossil gas have nothing to do with sustainability and therefore cannot be classified as renewable sources.
