After months of postponement and negotiations, the Commission published on Wednesday, its classification of “green” activities. It incorporates gas and nuclear power under conditions, raising the dissatisfaction of environmental NGOs.
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At the end, the question of whether gas and nuclear power should be considered “sustainable” poisoned the life of the European Commission. After several postponements, the Community Executive ended up publishing, Wednesday 2 February, its delegated act – the European equivalent of a decree – on taxonomy, which recognizes their contribution, under certain conditions, to the fight against global warming .
In the full swing of green finance, the text, which proposes a ranking of activities that can support the ecological transition, must help mobilize private funds to activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, While Europeans have committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. If they want to keep their promise, they will have to invest 350 billion euros a year and, as the Commission points out, ” There is not a lot of public money for that “.
Even the College of the Commission, which brings together its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and the twenty-six other commissioners, has widely divided on the subject. Where ordinarily this pregnant makes decisions in consensus, they were three to vote, Wednesday, against the delegated act: the Austrian Johannes Hahn, in charge of the budget, the Spaniard Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the security policy, and the Portuguese Elisa Ferreira, responsible for cohesion and reforms.
Reduce the carbon footprint of the twenty-seven
Luxembourg Nicolas Schmit (job) and Lithuanian Virginjus sinkevicius (environment) were absent. But on Monday, their chiefs of staff, at a meeting devoted to taxonomy with their counterparts, had asserted their reluctance. Like the collaborators of the two Vice-Presidents of the Commission, Danish Margrethe Vestacier and the Dutch Frans Timmermans. The Chief of Cabinet of Italian Paolo Gentiloni (economy) also reported, on this occasion, doubts of his superior.
“We have less than thirty years” to implement the Paris and gas agreement as nuclear “help the transition”, argues the financial services commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, to defend the choice of the Community executive to integrate these two energies into taxonomy.
Admittedly, nor the nuclear, whose exploitation generates highly radioactive waste, nor the gas, which emits co 2 , “are green or sustainable”, admits the commission. But in a Europe where 15% of the electricity generation comes from coal power plants and where renewable energies do not guarantee a stable supply, they reduce the carbon footprint of the twenty-seven. “This is undoubtedly imperfect, but it is a solution,” Lance Mairead McGuinness, who reminds the conditions that accompany the granting of the “green” label to these two energies.
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