EU Parliament’s Lead Committees Vote Against Gas & Nuclear in the Green Taxonomy

Brussels, 14 June 2022

Two of the European Parliament’s lead committees (ENVI and ECON) today voted in favour of throwing out the European Commission’s sustainable investment taxonomy, which inexplicably labels gas as green.

76 MEPs voted against greenwashing gas and nuclear, with 62 votes in favour and 4 abstentions.

Luca Bonaccorsi, sustainable finance director at T&E, said: “MEPs have sent a clear message: No more labelling fossil gas as green and no more gifts to Putin. Overturning the proposal would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago. This is a clear sign that the tide has turned and it isn’t impossible to imagine a complete rejection of the proposal when the whole of the Parliament comes together in July. Gas is not green. The European Parliament has the opportunity to re-establish this fundamental truth.”

Courtesy of Transport & Environment.

Another press release on the news, from The Greens/EFA Group:

MEPs Reject Classification of Nuclear Power and Gas as Sustainable

Taxonomy

Today, a cross-party alliance voted down the European Commission’s proposal to label gas and nuclear energy as sustainable. The vote took place in both the Environment (ENVI) and the Economic and Monetary Affairs committees (ECON). The resolution voted on today is expected to be voted on during the July plenary. The Greens/EFA Group calls on all MEPs to reject the delegated act.

Bas Eickhout, Member of the European Parliament’s ENVI and ECON committees, and European Parliament rapporteur for the taxonomy regulation, comments:

“Today’s vote shows that while many of the MEPs understand that nuclear power and gas are not sustainable, it is still a tight race. We need massive investment in the expansion of renewable energies, not the energies of the past. The Green Deal must not be used to finance energies that harm the environment and climate and pose unmanageable risks. The EU has the chance to take the global lead in the fight against climate change and set the gold standard for investment in the climate neutral economy.

“We are facing a climate crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine means the EU urgently needs to become independent of Russian uranium and gas. Artificial incentives to invest in expensive nuclear and fossil energy at the expense of renewables and other sustainable sectors is the last thing we need. UN Secretary-General Guterres has called investment in new fossil fuel production and power plants “moral and economic madness”. Parliament has a chance to stop this madness.”

More:

76 members of both committees objected to the European Commission’s delegated act to label gas and nuclear power as sustainable in the joint vote today. 62 members voted against the objection, 4 abstained.

In plenary, an absolute majority of 353 votes (out of a total of 705 MEPs) is needed to reject the Commission’s proposal. The delegated act on the EU Commission’s Taxonomy Regulation is a sustainability label and guide for investors.

European Parliament’s resolution objecting to the Commission Delegated Regulation

Featured image by mcruetten from Pixabay

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