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Date Published: 03/01/2022

Spain rejects EU plan to classify natural gas as green energy

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Brussels intends to label nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable sources

Spain rejects EU plan to classify natural gas as green energy

Spain has this week rejected the European Commission’s proposal to include nuclear energy and natural gas under the category of ‘green’ options by virtue of the fact that the government considers them neither green nor sustainable, according to the Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera.

According to the European Green Pact, the purpose of the green taxonomy regulation is to guide national and international companies and investors in their decarbonisation plans, identifying activities and economic sectors that are environmentally sustainable and that contribute to the reduction of CO2, methane and other gasses that cause climate change.

And while acknowledging that both gas and nuclear power have a role to play in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the Spanish government believes that their contribution is “time limited” and therefore including them in the green taxonomy “sends the wrong signals for the energy transition of the whole EU”.

Spain believes that in order to be considered green, an economic sector or activity must make a substantial contribution to the main environmental goals of the EU, in addition to respecting the principle of not causing significant climatic damage.

Methane emissions from natural gas generation and nuclear waste do not fall neatly into this category, as far as Spain’s climate experts are concerned. Instead, the country believes that capital should be focused towards a decarbonised, resilient and sustainable economy as was originally envisioned in the European Green Deal.

The EU Commission’s plan to classify nuclear energy as a sustainable technology has been rejected by Germany, and the Austrian government is even threatening to sue.

Classifying nuclear energy as sustainable is completely wrong, according to the German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, as it is a form of energy that could lead to “devastating environmental disasters and that leaves large amounts of dangerous and highly radioactive waste for thousands of years.”

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