On 2 February 2022, the European Commission proposed a ‘Complementary’ Climate Delegated Act (CDA) to include fossil gas-fired power and nuclear power in the EU Taxonomy of Sustainable Investments. The Parliament confirmed this choice in July 2022. With these activities classified as sustainable investments, they could benefit from billions of euros in ‘green’ financing at the expense of energy efficiency and renewables, critically undermining the credibility of the Taxonomy.
There are no good climate, environmental, or economic reasons to grant the green label to fossil gas and nuclear power. Rather, there are several science-based arguments to exclude them from the EU green taxonomy.
The Ukraine war has put the EU Taxonomy in a completely new context. The reinforced deployment of renewable energy is not only the most cost-effective means of securing our energy needs, but also the only path to energy independence while achieving our climate goals.
We advocate for an exit from nuclear energy due to its intrinsic lack of safety and the heavy burden that nuclear waste management puts on the environment and communities for many thousands of years to come.
Moreover, while existing nuclear power plants can play a limited role to help phase out fossil fuels, the inevitable construction times and investment costs of any new nuclear power plants make them barriers rather than tools in the fight to rapidly decarbonize our society. Any additional investment in nuclear energy hampers the required investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
EEB is a member of Nuclear Transparency Watch and contributes to its activities.
