Zürcher Nachrichten - EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'

EUR -
AED 3.821609
AFN 73.043711
ALL 98.561994
AMD 415.734952
ANG 1.874008
AOA 948.892795
ARS 1067.239304
AUD 1.668181
AWG 1.872815
AZN 1.757682
BAM 1.956454
BBD 2.099482
BDT 124.256752
BGN 1.957817
BHD 0.392426
BIF 3074.798113
BMD 1.040453
BND 1.412959
BOB 7.185402
BRL 6.442694
BSD 1.039838
BTN 88.511732
BWP 14.441688
BYN 3.402905
BYR 20392.87375
BZD 2.092379
CAD 1.496535
CDF 2986.099191
CHF 0.93648
CLF 0.037319
CLP 1029.739995
CNY 7.591767
CNH 7.598484
COP 4556.381863
CRC 527.971385
CUC 1.040453
CUP 27.571998
CVE 110.297624
CZK 25.115501
DJF 185.171889
DKK 7.460816
DOP 63.34117
DZD 140.687327
EGP 52.961546
ERN 15.606791
ETB 132.39725
FJD 2.412966
FKP 0.82402
GBP 0.828196
GEL 2.923108
GGP 0.82402
GHS 15.285109
GIP 0.82402
GMD 74.912518
GNF 8986.65805
GTQ 8.0096
GYD 217.552711
HKD 8.081868
HNL 26.41983
HRK 7.46307
HTG 135.964135
HUF 410.690109
IDR 16866.571316
ILS 3.790359
IMP 0.82402
INR 88.614737
IQD 1362.155262
IRR 43790.051599
ISK 145.091415
JEP 0.82402
JMD 162.007918
JOD 0.737991
JPY 163.632522
KES 134.384575
KGS 90.519253
KHR 4179.356665
KMF 484.981066
KPW 936.406886
KRW 1516.386879
KWD 0.320615
KYD 0.866581
KZT 538.684863
LAK 22740.381777
LBP 93117.221839
LKR 306.450641
LRD 189.251433
LSL 19.334876
LTL 3.072187
LVL 0.629359
LYD 5.10451
MAD 10.485801
MDL 19.185228
MGA 4904.592084
MKD 61.579021
MMK 3379.349922
MNT 3535.458283
MOP 8.3185
MRU 41.508277
MUR 48.974372
MVR 16.027812
MWK 1803.102637
MXN 20.964801
MYR 4.668508
MZN 66.48881
NAD 19.335062
NGN 1610.226956
NIO 38.262788
NOK 11.815418
NPR 141.618971
NZD 1.843304
OMR 0.40057
PAB 1.039848
PEN 3.871945
PGK 4.220248
PHP 60.807174
PKR 289.478921
PLN 4.256856
PYG 8109.710445
QAR 3.781864
RON 4.974508
RSD 116.972699
RUB 104.513453
RWF 1450.570871
SAR 3.90625
SBD 8.722693
SCR 14.683216
SDG 625.834202
SEK 11.538871
SGD 1.414875
SHP 0.82402
SLE 23.721196
SLL 21817.776932
SOS 594.292914
SRD 36.476165
STD 21535.271101
SVC 9.098691
SYP 2614.168982
SZL 19.343279
THB 35.541837
TJS 11.375802
TMT 3.651989
TND 3.315608
TOP 2.436845
TRY 36.690385
TTD 7.066294
TWD 34.011368
TZS 2517.895925
UAH 43.598696
UGX 3806.235546
USD 1.040453
UYU 46.28369
UZS 13423.970506
VES 53.661818
VND 26469.117766
VUV 123.524633
WST 2.87455
XAF 656.17
XAG 0.035166
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.811876
XDR 0.797259
XOF 656.151075
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.503326
ZAR 19.427453
ZMK 9365.323193
ZMW 28.777618
ZWL 335.025359
  • CMSC

    -0.2321

    23.67

    -0.98%

  • BTI

    0.0200

    36.24

    +0.06%

  • AZN

    -0.3500

    66.28

    -0.53%

  • NGG

    -0.2300

    58.79

    -0.39%

  • SCS

    0.0900

    11.74

    +0.77%

  • BCC

    0.3750

    122.615

    +0.31%

  • GSK

    -0.0310

    34.029

    -0.09%

  • RIO

    -0.0360

    59.194

    -0.06%

  • CMSD

    -0.1430

    23.407

    -0.61%

  • RBGPF

    -0.7000

    59.8

    -1.17%

  • BP

    0.0600

    28.81

    +0.21%

  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.25

    0%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.23

    +1.06%

  • RELX

    0.2400

    45.83

    +0.52%

  • BCE

    0.0750

    22.915

    +0.33%

  • VOD

    0.0650

    8.435

    +0.77%

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'
EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are 'green'

Hours before the window for lodging objections closes, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in France Friday differed sharply on a European Commission provision that would classify nuclear and natural gas energy as "sustainable".

Text size:

The controversy pits countries led by France -- where nuclear generates a world-leading 70 percent of electricity -- against Germany, Austria and others in the 27-nation bloc.

Debate over the Commission's so-called "taxonomy" is not on the agenda of the informal, three-day talks in Amiens, but flared nonetheless.

In late December the European Commission unveiled a classification labelling investment in nuclear gas-based energy as sustainable, in order to favour sectors that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming.

Nuclear power is carbon-free, and gas is significantly less polluting than coal.

Countries in the European Union had until midnight Friday to suggest modifications.

After that, the Commission -- taking these suggestions into account -- must "rapidly" publish a final text that will be definitely adopted four months later.

Passage in its current form seems more than likely: it would take a majority of deputies in the EU parliament or 20 of the 27 members states to derail it, and critical mass is lacking in both cases.

A letter to the executive European Commission from some European Parliament deputies protesting that the period for suggesting changes was too short has fallen on deaf ears.

And among EU member states, a dozen have backed France's position and the Commission's proposed taxonomy.

Many are central European nations looking to switch from carbon-intensive coal-fired power to natural gas.

"Nuclear is a decarbonised energy," French environment minister Barbara Pompili told journalists in Amiens.

"We cannot deprive ourselves of it at the same time that we need to very rapidly reduce our carbon emissions."

- 'A very bad signal' -

Despite the strong headwinds, anti-nuclear resistance has not subsided.

"It is neither sustainable nor economic", countered Germany environment minister Stefan Tidow. "It is not a green energy."

Luxembourg and Austria have gone even further, threatening to take the case to court if nuclear is certified as sustainable, citing the risk of accidents and the as-yet unresolved problem of nuclear waste.

"It would be greenwashing," Luxembourg's environment minister, Carole Dieschbourg, told AFP.

"And it would send a very bad signal: it is not a transition energy, it takes too long," she added, alluding to the lag time for building nuclear reactors.

Her Austrian counterpart, Leonore Gewessler, said labelling nuclear power as sustainable will "undermine the credibility of the taxonomy" because it does not fulfil the legal criterion of "not causing damage to the environment".

The EU Commission has proposed a measure requiring financial products to specify what percentage of the activities financed involve nuclear energy, a transparency measure that would allow investors to steer clear if they wanted to.

Berlin has expressed reservations about joining Vienna and Luxembourg in a legal challenge.

"For now, we're working on our response, and when the Commission presents a new text we'll analyse it from a legal standpoint," said Germany state secretary for economic affairs and climate action Sven Giegold.

Austria has also objected to tagging gas as sustainable, with The Netherlands -- which backs the label for nuclear energy -- arguing "there is no scientific reason to include" gas.

Polish undersecretary of state for the environment Adam Guibourge-Czetwertynski disagreed.

"Gas replacing coal because there's nothing better in the short term, that makes sense," he said.

T.L.Marti--NZN