BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries are continuing to work to reach an agreement on the list of activities that can benefit from investments considered to be environmentally friendly, the French Minister for Ecological Transition said on Friday.
“We continue to try to find the best landing point for the taxonomy and the consequences that the taxonomy could have on investments, on economies, on the policies carried out, whether within our countries or within the ‘EU”, she said at a press conference after an informal meeting of the Ministers of the Environment of the Twenty-Seven.
This classification, or “taxonomy for sustainable finance”, aims to better direct capital towards sustainable activities across the European Union, in order to contribute to the European objective of carbon neutrality by 2050.
In a document consulted by Reuters on Friday, a group of experts advising the European Union on this “green taxonomy” asks Brussels to adopt a more restrictive approach concerning natural gas and to exclude nuclear energy, defended in particular by France in the name of the imperative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Four member countries – Austria, Denmark, Spain and Luxembourg – published a letter on Thursday asking the European Commission not to include gas and nuclear in the list of green investments.
(Report Marine Strauss, Kate Abnett; French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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