The EU Parliament has voted to classify investments in gas and nuclear power as sustainable under certain conditions. Opponents in the European Parliament were unable to stop such plans with a vote on Wednesday. Instead of the required 353 MEPs, only 278 voted against the legal act on the so-called taxonomy in the plenary session in Strasbourg. This means that gas and nuclear power are considered environmentally friendly, and the so-called taxonomy rules should apply to the financial market from 2023.
The taxonomy is a classification system designed to guide private investment in sustainable economic activities to help fight climate change. It is relevant for companies because it influences the investment decisions of investors and could therefore have an impact on the financing costs of projects, for example. Investors should also be able to avoid investments in climate-damaging economic sectors. As a first step, a decision was made last year to classify electricity production with solar panels, hydroelectric power or wind power as climate-friendly. In addition, criteria have been defined for numerous other economic sectors. For example, they regulate that passenger and freight trains can be classified as climate-friendly without direct CO2 emissions.
In the future, gas and nuclear power plants will also benefit from investments in climate funds. Before these two technologies actually receive an eco-seal, however, legal steps must be awaited. Austria and Luxembourg had previously announced that they would sue against the taxonomy if gas and nuclear power were to be classified as sustainable. The implementation of the Commission’s proposal can still be prevented if at least 20 EU states, representing at least 65 percent of the total population of the EU, join forces by July 11th.
However, given the interest of many states in the use of nuclear power, it is considered impossible that a corresponding majority will be achieved in the Council of the EU. The vote in Parliament was previously considered completely open because the EU Commission’s project is very controversial. Climate protection groups in particular had criticized the plans. The Commission justified its plan with a possible increase in electricity demand.