The European Commission on Wednesday aims to propose how the bloc should end its dependence on Russian energy imports — but that’s setting up a potential clash with the EU’s climate goals. The Commission’s Russia solution is a fat packet of measures called REPowerEU, aimed at everything from boosting renewable energy to investing in alternative ways of supplying gas and hydrogen and increasing energy savings. But green groups and clean energy advocates are worried the Commission will try to substitute Russian oil and gas with imports from other countries and invest billions in new pipelines and import terminals rather than use the opportunity to rapidly jump to greener energy sources.
Politico 16th May 2022 read more »
Russian energy firms Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosatom used lobbying connections reminiscent of nesting Russian dolls to influence the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy of sustainable investments, according to new research by Greenpeace France. The research also found that Russia is set to be one of the main beneficiaries of the planned addition of gas and nuclear to the EU’s list of sustainable investments, handing Vladimir Putin additional bargaining power over the EU and providing money to fuel the war in Ukraine. The research revealed that Russian energy companies have met EU commissioners and senior officials either directly or through subsidiaries and lobby groups at least 18 times since the European Commission published its action plan on sustainable finance in March 2018.
Greenpeace 17th May 2022 read more »
Germany will oppose European Union plans to include nuclear energy as a sustainable investment in its “taxonomy” policy for labelling green investments, the government said on Monday. Brussels is seeking approval from EU countries and European Parliament for its plan to label gas and nuclear as climate-friendly investments. It has split opinions among states who disagree with the fuels’ green credentials. Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, is among those planning to reject it when countries come to vote on the plan in the coming weeks.
Euronews 17th May 2022 read more »
The EU has a commendable story of leadership on climate, having made legally binding commitments to climate neutrality and created an ambitious policy framework to meet them. Unlike the US and other global players, Europe has put its money — and its policies — where its mouth is. But this story will start to look less praiseworthy if the EU does not address the worldwide implications of its transition, as set out in the recently published International System Change Compass. To put it bluntly, the EU cannot be a green island in a dirty world. Unless its trade, aid and other external policies help other regions to achieve their own green transitions, the EU’s ambitions will fail.
FT 17th May 2022 read more »