Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Greenpeace announced plans to file a lawsuit against the EU over the bloc’s inclusion of some gas and nuclear projects on the list of green investments.
The activist group stressed it would bring the case before the EU Court of Justice, stressing that the European Commission violated its own environmental rules by labelling the projects as green, according to Reuters reporting on Thursday.
Greenpeace called on the EC to review its decision in September last year, with the Commission dismissing the group’s objections. The NGO then announced it would go to court in April, expressing belief that EU would not reach its environmental goals because EC’s rules were too loose.
Commenting on EC’s classification of zero-emission nuclear power as green, Greenpeace activist Ariadna Rodrigo stated “we will fight this fake green label in court.”
Other environmental activist groups object to EC’s classification of some natural gas projects as green, announcing plans to take action against it.
The EC pointed out that it assessed the claims of environmental activists and concluded that its classification was in line with its environmental rules.
EC’s response
“The Commission will not amend the Complementary Delegated Act,” an EC spokesperson noted and added that nuclear and gas projects are included in the green taxonomy under “strict conditions” that will be reviewed periodically.
“This aligns with our pathway to net zero, where gas and nuclear are recognised as important parts of the transition in several member states,” the spokesperson concluded.
The EC drew up the taxonomy to help direct investments towards green and sustainable projects, with bloc members split on the classification.
Denmark and Spain warned that labelling natural gas projects as green was not credible, while Bulgaria and Poland called for allowing some gas projects to help them transition away from coal.
The debate among bloc members over the proposed use of natural gas as a “bridge” fuel on the path towards renewable energy sources has intensified as the war in Ukraine started, EU imposed sanctions against Russia and Moscow cut gas deliveries to the bloc.
While the taxonomy does not ban investments in non-green projects, EU rules make them significantly less attractive to potential investors.
