Invitation to the Nuclear Energy Inclusion Criteria in the Taxonomy ZOOM Webinar on January 25, 2 – 4 pm CET.
Meeting Registration (Accessed) 17th Jan 2022 read more »
To the dismay of climate and environmental groups, the European Commission appears poised to include gas and nuclear energy in an influential sustainable-development rulebook for climate-friendly investing. A draft of the proposed rules has been submitted to the commission’s advisory group on sustainable finance and experts from European Union member states, who have until January 21 to offer feedback, after an earlier deadline this month was extended. The EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, as this rulebook is formally called, means to help investors identify and finance sustainable development while avoiding greenwashing, and ultimately help the European Union achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades. While potentially billions of dollars are at stake, the taxonomy in no way prohibits investment in non-sustainable development projects.
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 14th Jan 2022 read more »
Investors with €50tr assets under management group call on EU to revisit plan to sanction spending on some gas power plants under its new green finance rulebook. Major investors have urged the EU to amend its draft green investment rulebook to ensure that no fossil gas investments can be labelled sustainable, arguing their inclusion will hinder financiers’ ability to deliver net zero portfolios, undermine the credibility of the green taxonomy, and could result in reduced climate ambition around the world.
Business Green 17th Jan 2022 read more »
The science-based case for excluding nuclear power from the EU taxonomy
A statement by Dawn Slevin, Dr. Erik Laes, Paolo Masoni, Jochen Krimphoff, Fabrizio Varriale, Andrea Di Turi, Dr. Ulrich Ofterdinger, Dr. Dolores Byrne, Dr. Petra Kuenkel, Ursula Hartenberger, Kosha Joubert, Dr. Paul Dorfman, Anders Wijkman, Prof. Petra, Seibert, Rebecca Harms, Joseph Kobor, Michel Lee, Dr. Stuart Parkinson, and Dr. Ian Fairlie. One of the most influential policy initiatives of the European Commission in the past years has been the “EU Taxonomy”, essentially a shopping list of investments that may be considered environmentally sustainable across six environmental objectives. To be deemed EU Taxonomy aligned, the activity must demonstrate a substantial contribution to one environmental objective, such as climate change mitigation, whilst causing no significant harm to the remaining five environmental objectives (climate change adaptation, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems).
Beyond Nuclear 16th Jan 2022 read more »
The new German government unveiled plans last week to massively increase the ambition of its national hydrogen strategy. There is just one caveat: fossil gas-based hydrogen likely won’t be included in subsidy schemes, despite demands from the oil and gas industry. Clean hydrogen is seen as a potential silver bullet to decarbonise industries like steel and chemicals, which cannot fully electrify and need energy-dense fuels to generate high-temperature heat for their industrial processes. The European Commission says it will play a key role to achieve the EU’s climate goals, saying that 24% of global energy demand in 2050 could be met with clean hydrogen.
Euractiv 17th Jan 2022 read more »