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Brussels — Europe Congress decides on Wednesday to block or accept EU law that labels investment in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly, exposing deep rifts between countries on how to combat climate change. To do.
Congress proposes the European Commission to add gas and nuclear power plants to the European Union's "classification", a list of economic activities that investors can label and sell in the EU as green. Decide whether to reject.
EU authorities are expecting a tough vote. A total of 353 members (more than half of the 705 members of the entire parliament) must reject EU regulations.
The European People's Party, the largest group of parliamentarians, plans to uphold EU regulations at the Strasbourg meeting late Tuesday, while 31 are trying to block them. I confirmed that it was there. Greens and socialists oppose EU regulations, and Renew lawmakers are largely in favor.
Voting must be done directly. Voting has been tightened, and some lawmakers are not infected with COVID-19.
Congress will vote at noon.
The EU aims to wipe out the uncertain world of sustainable investment by ensuring that environmentally friendly financial instruments comply with strict standards through its classification. increase.
"There is no greenwashing," said Mairead McGuinness, EU Head of Financial Services, Tuesday.
However, the debate over gas and nuclear rules, which Brussels has been rewritten many times a year later in lobbying by the government and industry, is striving for Europe to reach its climate goals. Therefore, it is a fuel that puts politicians in the logger head and gives incentives. At the same time, it will also withdraw from Russian gas.
"We can't do this, or we'll be bound by fossil energy even after it has to be phased out," said centrist politician Linea. Rep. Sogard Liddell and opponents of the rule said.
Nuclear energy has no CO2 emissions, but produces radioactive waste. Gas is a fossil fuel that produces global warming emissions, but in some EU countries it is considered the route from more polluted coal.
Conservative MP Pernille Weiss, a supporter, "tied the European Union to coal and oil" without encouraging investment in gas and nuclear power, Warned that it would make reductions difficult.
Legislators are also divided on how the law affects financial markets and face higher cost of capital if gas and nuclear projects are denied "green" status. I warn you that you may.
Some suggest that the political symbolism of the classification method far outweighs the impact on investors, as the law does not prohibit investment in activities without a green label.
Nuclear-dependent France, along with Progas countries like Poland, has strongly supported this proposal. Opponents include anti-nuclear Germany and Denmark, which says it is unreliable to label CO2 emissions as climate-friendly.
Some EU parliamentarians, Austrian and Luxembourg governments, and climate change activists have threatened to take legal action if EU proposals are enacted. (Report by Kate Abnett, edited by John Chalmers, David Gregorio, Kim Coghill)