Habeck travels to Brussels: there is a risk of conflict – the Green Minister receives protection assistance before the visit

Created: 01/24/2022, 21:10

By: Markus Hofstetter

Robert Habeck (Greens), Federal Minister for Climate Protection and Economy © Michael Sohn/dpa/picture alliance

Robert Habeck goes to Brussels.

One focus of the talks is likely to be the EU's planned classification of gas and nuclear power as climate-friendly.

• Robert Habeck (Greens*) travels to Brussels for the first time on Tuesday in his capacity as a member of the federal government. 

• The topics of discussion are the framework conditions for a green and digital transformation of the EU.

• The federal government is against the EU plan to classify nuclear power as sustainable.

Brussels/Berlin – Robert Habeck* (Greens), Federal Minister for Climate Protection and Economic Affairs, travels to Brussels on Tuesday (January 25) for an inaugural visit.

This was announced by a spokeswoman for the ministry on Monday in Berlin.

A meeting with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen* and Vice President Margrethe Vestager is therefore planned in Brussels.

Habeck will also hold talks with other Commissioners, including Executive Vice-Presidents Frans Timmermann and Valdis Dombrovskis, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.

According to the spokeswoman, the topics of discussion are future cooperation and the economic framework conditions that are necessary for a green and digital transformation of the European Union.

Robert Habeck's first visit to Brussels: resistance to EU plans for nuclear power

The EU Commission's proposal to classify gas and nuclear power as transitional technologies worthy of support within the framework of the so-called taxonomy should create potential for conflict during Habeck's trip to Brussels.

Taxonomy is a kind of catalog for climate-friendly investments, which should boost the climate transition.

The EU Commission's proposal had provoked fierce resistance in the federal government.

In its statement to the EU Commission, it rejected the classification of nuclear power as a sustainable energy source.

On the other hand, there is support for a corresponding classification of natural gas as a so-called bridging technology if appropriate adjustments are made.

Habeck has also commented on this.

Together with Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens), he calls on the EU Commission to change its plans.

Criticism of the EU plans for taxonomy: Platform for sustainable finance goes on confrontation

Habeck is now getting some support from climate experts and companies who are heavily criticizing the EU plans for gas and nuclear power.

This emerges from a statement by the so-called Platform for Sustainable Finance, which was published on Monday.

The platform includes environmental organizations such as the WWF, scientists and companies such as Airbus.

They advise the Commission on the creation of the taxonomy.

"The Commission* must listen to the science and drop its proposal," said WWF's Sebastien Godinot.

Fossil gas generates a lot of emissions and nuclear power produces highly radioactive waste that is still unmanageable.

Criticism of the EU plans for the taxonomy: nuclear power should not be included under any circumstances

Specifically, the experts criticize the conditions under which investments in gas-fired power plants should be considered climate-friendly.

The Commission proposes to label new gas-fired power plants as “green” by 2030 if they have total emissions of up to 550 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilowatt hour.

The experts are calling for the limit to be lowered to 100 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour.

This is a neutral limit that applies to all other technologies.

Nuclear power, on the other hand, should not even be included in the taxonomy because of possible “significant damage” to the environment, the statement said.

The Commission had proposed classifying new nuclear power plants as sustainable if there is a concrete plan for the disposal of radioactive waste by 2050.

Criticism of the EU plans for the taxonomy: Investors could be unsettled

The experts of the platform for sustainable finance criticize that it is unclear how the proposed criteria for nuclear power and gas are to be checked.

The existing green taxonomy was not originally intended for transitional technologies, the report says.

The platform is currently working on an “amber” category for the taxonomy.

"Labeling gas as green would undermine the whole taxonomy initiative," said Mathilde Crêpy from the organization ECOS, which is part of the platform, to

.

This will make it very difficult for investors to really ensure that their investments are "green" and indeed sustainable.

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