EU climate policy – Brussels wants to classify investments in gas and nuclear power as “green” – News

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  • Investments in gas and nuclear power plants should be able to be classified as climate-friendly in the EU – if certain conditions are met.
  • It provides for a proposal for a new EU regulation, which became public on New Year’s Day.
  • The fact that the investments are classified as “green” should enable investors to invest more sustainably.

Accordingly, investments in new nuclear power plants should then be classified as green if the systems meet the latest technical standards. In addition, a specific plan for the operation of a disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste must be submitted by 2050 at the latest. Another condition is that the new nuclear facilities receive a building permit by 2045. This emerges from a text available to the German Press Agency.

Temporary investments in new gas-fired power plants should also be classified as green under strict conditions. For example, it should be relevant how many greenhouse gases are emitted. For plants that are approved after December 31, 2030, according to the proposal, only up to 100 grams of so-called CO2 equivalents per kilowatt hour of energy would be allowed – calculated over the life cycle.

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For France, nuclear power is a key technology for a carbon-free economy.

Keystone

The classification of economic activities by the EU Commission is intended to enable investors to convert their investments to more sustainable technologies and thus contribute to Europe’s climate neutrality by 2050.

Disagreement between EU countries

The question of which technologies are “green” is controversial within the EU: Germany, among others, did not want to include nuclear power, while France did. The EU proposal is seen as a compromise and a concession to the interests of EU countries such as Germany and France.

Criticism from Germany


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The EU Commission’s draft on the sustainability of nuclear power has met with harsh criticism from the German federal ministries. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke von den Grünen thinks it is wrong to classify nuclear power as a sustainable economic activity. A technology in which there is no solution for the disposal of toxic
According to Lemke, giving garbage cannot be sustainable.

Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) also said that he considered it questionable to classify gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly under certain conditions. The federal government will evaluate the Commission’s draft for its effects. However, he does not see approval.

For implementation, the EU member states still have to approve the proposal. You have until January 12 to comment on the EU Commission’s draft. Implementation can only be prevented if a qualified majority of the member states oppose it. That means at least 15 EU countries that represent at least 65 percent of the total population of the EU.

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