EU sets criteria for sustainable investment | Free press

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Brussels (dpa) – The EU has set specific criteria for climate-friendly investments.

A legal act was adopted on Thursday night regulating the details of the so-called taxonomy. The EU countries gave a midnight deadline to reject it. It defines criteria for environmentally friendly bioenergy, hydropower and forestry, for example. Whether gas and nuclear power and certain agricultural activities can be climate-friendly has not yet been determined. To this end, the EU Commission wants to submit another legal act by the end of the year.

The taxonomy is controversial as it sets the course for large financial flows. It defines which areas of the economy are climate-friendly. Citizens and investors should receive clear information about sustainable financial products – this should help to mobilize the billions needed for the climate change.

France wants to label nuclear power as “green”

With the legal act, a first step towards specific criteria has now been taken. Activities such as electricity production with solar panels or transport by rail are listed as climate-friendly. For example, criteria are set for environmentally friendly hydropower plants. The environmental protection organization WWF criticized that the requirements for bioenergy and forestry were not strict enough. The rules will officially come into effect on January 1, 2022.

It is still particularly controversial whether nuclear power and gas can also be considered sustainable. The EU countries have been arguing about this for months. France, together with countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, want to label nuclear power as “green” at all costs. Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, among others, are strictly against it.

However, there is a strong lobby in Germany for including gas in the taxonomy. It is now considered likely that certain gas and nuclear power plants will be listed in the taxonomy, at least temporarily. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently said that the EU needs not only renewable energies but also nuclear power as a stable energy source and gas as a transition source during the climate change.

Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace and the WWF as well as Green MPs warn against portraying gas and nuclear power as environmentally friendly – gas because of the CO2 emissions and nuclear power because of the radioactive waste. WWF’s Sebastien Godinot said this would ruin the credibility of the taxonomy as existing rules for climate-friendly bonds in the financial market are already stricter. “It would destroy the EU’s claim to leadership in sustainable finance.”

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