Greenpeace Opposes Nuclear and Gas Eco-Friendly Classification... Announces Legal Action Against EU

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Environmental organizations including Greenpeace have requested the European Union (EU) to reconsider its decision to recognize nuclear power and natural gas as green energy, major foreign media reported on the 19th (local time).

In June 2020, the EU announced a draft of the green taxonomy that classifies green energy. Nuclear power and natural gas were not included in the draft at that time, but in January this year, the EU Commission decided to include nuclear power and natural gas in the taxonomy and finalized the green taxonomy in February. The bill was narrowly approved by a margin of 75 votes in the European Parliament vote last July.

However, it has been confirmed that environmental organizations such as Greenpeace and Client Earth officially requested the EU Commission to reconsider the green taxonomy decision. These environmental groups argued that the decision to classify nuclear power and natural gas as green energy contradicts the EU Climate Law and demanded a review.

The environmental groups claimed that gas is a fossil fuel causing climate and economic turmoil, threatening Europe’s energy security and causing energy price increases across Europe. Regarding nuclear power, they pointed out that no plan has been established for radioactive waste disposal and that the damage from nuclear accidents is too great to ignore.

The environmental organizations stated that if the EU Commission does not agree to the reconsideration, they plan to bring the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The Commission said it has received an official request for review of the taxonomy decision and will respond at an appropriate time. So far, the EU Commission has emphasized that nuclear power and gas must meet specific criteria to be classified as green energy and that nuclear power and gas will be restricted to being used only as means to achieve green energy transition. In particular, it stressed that nuclear power will only be included in the green taxonomy if it meets radioactive waste disposal standards.

Although the bill classifying nuclear power and natural gas as green energy passed the European Parliament, controversy continues. Approval from all EU member states is required, and Austria and Luxembourg are considering legal actions against the inclusion of nuclear power investments in the green taxonomy. Some environmentally friendly and progressive members of the European Parliament are also considering legal measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.