The Bobov Dol Thermal Power Plant, near the village of Golemo Selo, BulgariaBRUSSELS - The European Commission will next week present the first part of a"green taxonomy" list of energy sources and technology to be labelled as sustainable investments, but a question mark hangs over the inclusion of natural gas.
A second commission proposal is to follow later this year covering four other subjects -- protection of water and marine resources, the circular economy, preventing pollution and biodiversity -- all part of the EU's"Green Deal" to reach that ambition.For an investment to be considered"green" it has to meet one of these objectives without hurting any of the others.
Nine experts the commission consulted threatened to break off cooperation over the perceived"greenwashing", according to a letter sent to the commission and seen by AFP. A Green MEP from the Netherlands, Bas Eickhout said:"A gas-fired power plant built now is there to stay for 40 years. So brings you way over the 2050 deadline."As a result,"we are going to object" to the commission proposal, based on the version leaked in March, Eickhout said.
Other points of discord are the commission's approach to forestries and logging, seen by some as not rigorous enough, and it automatically classifying bioenergy as durable even when the biomass it uses comes from dedicated farmland.