Dear Sir or Madam,
The governments of the EU member states had the opportunity until yesterday evening to comment on the statement of the Platform on Sustainable Finance on the Taxonomy Delegated Act of the EU Commission. Hereby the Commission proposes to classify nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable. On this occasion, the German government once again emphasized that both nuclear power and the longer-term use of natural gas are not sustainable regarding the taxonomy criteria.
Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection Steffi Lemke comments the statement of the Platform on Sustainable Finance as follows:
“As the European Commission’s main advisory body on the taxonomy, the Platform on Sustainable Finance’s categorical rejection of the current Commission proposal is a wake-up call. It requires us to examine the question once again, with in-depth discussions on whether nuclear power and natural gas can be considered sustainable. Ultimately, this issue will determine the success or failure of the taxonomy, and consequently of the Green Deal. There is a lot at stake. The opinion of the Platform on Sustainable Finance confirms my own position: It would be a major error to include nuclear power and natural gas in the taxonomy. Classifying nuclear power as a sustainable form of energy and including it in the taxonomy would be a greenwash. This would cause irreparable damage to the perception of the taxonomy as a trustworthy, sound assessment standard for sustainable economic activities which can serve as a global model. Given the overwhelming importance of these issues, we now need public consultation and a proper legislative procedure. Only this will sufficiently ensure the involvement of the public, member states and the European Parliament.”
About the "Platform on Sustainable Finance"
- The Platform is the most important expert body of the EU Commission on the taxonomy and the Sustainable Finance agenda as a whole and was established on the basis of the EU Taxonomy Regulation itself (Art. 20) (members include the EU Environment Agency, European Investment Bank, representatives from business, finance, environment and civil society).
- This independent, broad-based group of experts regularly makes proposals to the Commission, which economic activities should be classified as sustainable and thus become part of the taxonomy: for as many economic sectors as possible. For example, it is currently tasked with developing proposals for the criteria for environmental goals 3-6 of the taxonomy (3. water and marine protection, 4. circular economy, 5. pollution prevention, 6. biodiversity and ecosystems).
- The group was established to provide an independent, pure-science basis for the taxonomy.
- The group aims to ensure that there are consistent Sustainable Finance standards across the EU in order to make the EU the lead market for sustainable finance.
The platform's statement can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking-and-finance/sustainable-finance/overview-sustainable-finance/platform-sustainable-finance_de?etrans=de#activities
With best regards,
BMUV Press Team
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