Nuclear and gas industries desperate to win EU endorsement AND FUNDING, as clean and green

Gas and nuclear industries fight to the end for ‘green’ EU investment label, Kate Abnett, Simon Jessop, BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) 26 Aug 20 – The gas and nuclear industries have ramped up lobbying to secure last-ditch changes to European rules defining which investments are sustainable, fearing that exclusion from a new “green” list could deprive them of billions of dollars of funding.

The climate section of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy is due to be finalised this year and it could prove crucial as nuclear power and most natural gas plants and pipelines were excluded from a provisional list published in March.

By forcing providers of financial products to disclose which investments meet climate criteria from the end of 2021, the new EU green finance rules are designed to channel cash towards projects that support the bloc’s climate goals.

In the four months since the rules were published, gas and nuclear industry representatives held 52 meetings – in person or virtually – with EU officials, according to EU logs analysed by non-profit Reclaim Finance and shared exclusively with Reuters.

Overall, industry representatives have held a total of 310 meetings with EU policymakers since the start of 2018, according to the data based on transparency filings published by July 8.

Nuclear groups in particular have stepped up their lobbying, Of the 36 meetings they’ve held over the past two-and-a-half years, 10 have taken place since March.

Brussels is facing calls to use the rules to guarantee spending from its 750 billion euro ($888 billion) COVID-19 recovery fund goes to green projects. The money starts flowing in 2021, meaning any delay to the rules could thwart this plan.

NEED TO BREAK FREE’

Climate campaigners urged the EU not to bow to pressure from the oil and gas industry as the stakes were too high.

“If EU institutions and member states are serious about building a sustainable Europe that confronts the climate emergency, they need to break free from fossil-fuel lobbyists,” said Paul Schreiber, a campaigner at Reclaim Finance.

One of the main gripes of both energy industries is that they were locked out of the group of finance experts that came up with the proposals released in March.

A new EU sustainable finance platform will take over as the European Commission’s advisor on taxonomy next month – and both industries are jostling to be included on the panel. ……

Nuclear industry groups say the energy deserves a sustainable label, based on its low carbon emissions and existing secure waste disposal sites.

They fear that if nuclear isn’t deemed sustainable, the cost of capital for power plants will rise – a concern for an industry where flagship projects, such as Britain’s Hinkley Point C reactor, are struggling with spiralling costs.

To help get the message across, several nuclear lobby groups enlisted the help of the public, tweeting to encourage responses to an EU consultation in April on the proposed rules – and suggesting what to write.

That helped generate 126 responses to the EU consultation from concerned citizens asking for nuclear power to be termed sustainable – nearly a third of all the responses received, according to InfluenceMap analysis.

The expert finance group was split on how to brand nuclear power and the Commission has now asked its scientific arm to report on the issue next year.

Lobby groups told Reuters they were confident nuclear power would ultimately be considered sustainable, but they want the energy section of the taxonomy delayed until the report is done…….. Reporting by Simon Jessop in London and Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by David Clarke https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-finance-lobbying-analysis/gas-and-nuclear-industries-fight-to-the-end-for-green-eu-investment-label-idUSKBN25L0GA

August 27, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, EUROPE, politics

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