What does it mean that gas and nuclear are considered sustainable investments in the European Union

The European Parliament has voted to include gas and nuclear power on the European Union’s list of sustainable investments. On 5 July the assembly spoke in plenary session on taxonomy, or on the hierarchical classification system used by the Union to characterize certain economic activities as eco-compatible or not. Specifically, a resolution was voted on which proposed to reject the inclusion of the two terms "nuclear" and "gas" in the list of green investments, which the European Commission defined in its delegated act as "transitional activities that contribute to the mitigation of the climate change ". Since the threshold of 353 votes in favor necessary to approve the resolution has not been reached, the delegated act of the Commission will be able to continue its process without changes.

The most immediate consequence of this vote is that the new gas and nuclear plants will be able to receive financing from investors, even if, however, being "transitory activities", this will be possible for a limited period of time and only when such plants replace coal-fired power plants.

It was undoubtedly a controversial vote. The outcome was uncertain until shortly before the start of the vote and in the end there were 75 votes in favor to approve the resolution (in fact, only 278 arrived). The well-known non-governmental climate protection organization Greenpeace immediately launched itself against the European Union and promised legal action. "It is outrageous to label fossil gas and nuclear power as 'green' and thus make more money flow into the coffers that finance Putin's war in Ukraine - said Ariadna Rodrigo, of the EU Greenpeace Sustainable Finance campaign -. The shameful internal negotiations in the European Commission influenced by the fossil fuel and nuclear lobbies will not be enough. We are confident that the courts will nullify this politically backed attempt at greenwashing, as it is a clear violation of EU law. " Greenpeace specifies, however, that before taking legal action, it will submit a formal request for internal review to the Commission. If this is not the case, the case will be brought to the European Court of Justice.