Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) rejects the EU Commission's plan to classify energy generation from nuclear facilities as sustainable.
"I think it is absolutely wrong that the European Commission intends to include nuclear power in the EU taxonomy for sustainable economic activities," Lemke told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
A form of energy that could lead to "devastating environmental disasters" and leave behind large amounts of dangerous, highly radioactive waste, "cannot be sustainable".
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) also reacts indignantly to the initiative of the EU Commission to classify energy generation from natural gas and nuclear plants as climate-friendly.
This would "enable environmentally harmful investments under a green guise," warned the organization.
The EU member states and the European Parliament would have to take a clear position against this project.
A draft of the EU Commission for the so-called Taxonomy Ordinance stipulates that it will record permits issued for new nuclear power plants by 2045, so that the construction can be subsidized accordingly.
For new gas infrastructure, this should apply until 2030 under certain conditions, as can be seen from the draft.
The taxonomy is a kind of classification of sustainable economic activities.
It is equivalent to a classification as worthy of funding and a recommendation to investors.
The DUH attacked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) because of the draft.
He apparently "advocated the inclusion of fossil gas in the taxonomy and in return supported the French desire to include dangerous nuclear power."
sbo / afp
