Labelling natural gas and nuclear as sustainable would be a huge mistake
Ecopreneur.eu, the European Sustainable Business Federation, strongly objects to the European Commission’s inclusion of natural gas (until 2030) and nuclear power plants (until 2045) as sustainable investments in the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. Their proposal was published yesterday in the Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act.
As stated before, member states deciding to invest in natural gas and nuclear power plants for their energy transition should pay the full cost and true price. Including nuclear and gas in the Taxonomy would reduce incentives for saving energy and draw investments away from renewable energy.
By labeling gas and nuclear as sustainable, the EU would effectively be paying the polluters instead of making them pay, thereby delaying the transition to renewables rather than accelerating it. In addition, nuclear energy is overly expensive, too slow to contribute to the 2030 climate goals, has safety issues ignored by the European Commission, and hampers decentralised energy generation. What’s more, natural gas keeps the EU dependent on countries that oppose our democratic system and ethical values. Finally, renewable electricity and green hydrogen can meet the needs of the market while fossil fuels and nuclear are being phased out without further support.
Instead, Ecopreneur.eu advocates to end all fossil fuel support immediately, fully internalise all external social and environmental costs for all energy options, facilitate investment in housing insulation and energy saving, encourage member states to introduce the tax shift from labour to resources, and boost R&D on next generation nuclear reactors that run on nuclear waste only. Finally, keep nuclear above coal, but don’t invest in new plants.
