The European Commission proposed that investments in nuclear energy and natural gas be considered sustainable in the ecological transition, as it said this Saturday, after announcing that yesterday it began consultations on the matter with EU countries and experts from the Sustainable Finance Platform .
"Taking into account scientific advice and current technological progress, as well as the different challenges towards the transition between Member States, the Commission considers that there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly based future in renewables"said the community executive.
According to the newspaper El PaÃs in Spain, the European Commission put into circulation its proposal to modify the classification of green energy for investors and include nuclear energy and natural gas.
The Brussels legal project, a 60-page text to which El PaÃs has had access, grants green recognition to nuclear power plants that are already in operation and those that are built at least until 2045. Electricity generation plants with gas will also enjoy the same recognition until at least 2030.
The predictably very controversial proposal is included in the draft of the delegated act that will amend the so-called taxonomy or classification of activities in the energy sector that are considered environmentally sustainable. Nuclear and gas are classified in the second category of the taxonomy, that is, among those that are low in carbon emissions and for which there is currently no alternative available.
The European classification, a pioneer in the world, establishes the criteria that an energy source must meet to be considered green, with the aim of guiding financial investment towards these projects.
Raising this funding will be vital to decarbonize energy production and meet the goal of reducing emissions to zero by 2050, set in the EU Green Pact. Brussels estimates that energy consumption accounts for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
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