{"id":14040,"date":"2021-07-22T06:01:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T04:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/?p=14040"},"modified":"2023-02-08T16:16:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:16:38","slug":"eu-sustainable-taxonomy-trading-in-science-for-lobbyists-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reclaimfinance.org\/site\/en\/2021\/07\/22\/eu-sustainable-taxonomy-trading-in-science-for-lobbyists-report\/","title":{"rendered":"EU sustainable taxonomy \u2018trading in science for lobbyists\u2019: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris, Thursday 22<\/span><\/b>nd<\/span><\/b> July 2021: The European Union\u2019s \u2018sustainable taxonomy\u2019 is in danger of being \u201ccompromised\u201d by an \u20ac85m gas and nuclear \u201clobbying offensive\u201d, claims a new report<\/a><\/u> from NGO Reclaim Finance. As confirmed in the European Commission\u2019s recently-released sustainable finance strategy, the taxonomy is opening the door to gas and nuclear power, despite both energy sources representing major sustainability threats (1) and being rejected in experts\u2019 initial proposals. The report reveals hundreds of meetings between EU officials and gas and nuclear lobbyists, led by the likes of Shell, BP and EDF, and their industry groups.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The taxonomy will set the pace for \u201csustainable\u201d investment in the EU, and has been hotly, and acrimoniously, <\/span>contested<\/span><\/a><\/u>. An initial recommendation in March 2020 from the Commission\u2019s Technical Expert group (TEG) would have effectively entailed the exclusion of gas and nuclear from the EU taxonomy, prompting a renewed lobbying frenzy from the two industries to find a way back in.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paul Schreiber, Campaigner at Reclaim Finance and author of the report, said<\/span><\/b>: \u201c<\/span>Out with science, in with lobbyists. Our report reveals the extraordinary, multimillion euro efforts of the gas and nuclear sectors to protect their interests and prevent real climate action. Sadly, they succeeded in driving the European Commission to disregard the mass of scientific evidence and undermine the very foundations of the taxonomy, all to satisfy its backroom guests and realpolitik demands. The European Union now only has one way to rescue its beleaguered financial flagship: exclude gas and nuclear power<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The report lays bare the astonishing extent of industry lobbying efforts. <\/span>On gas, 776 staff have been employed in 182 gas-related companies and industry groups to lobby the EU<\/span><\/b>. Together they spent up to \u20ac78m a year, with prominent contributions from oil majors such as Shell, BP Exxon and TotalEnergies (2). The upshot is an <\/span>extraordinary 323 meetings with EU officials<\/span><\/b> \u2014 <\/span>more than one meeting every two days<\/span><\/b> (3).\u202f This has been buttressed by support from Eastern European states like Hungary and Poland.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the nuclear lobbying operation is much smaller – at \u20ac7.9m annually, with 119 staff from 27 organizations – it has been no less active. Shortly <\/span>after nuclear was sidelined in the initial TEG report, the frequency of meetings between EU Commissioners and nuclear lobbyists more than doubled<\/span><\/b> (4). The industry has amply benefited from state backing, with nuclear-dependent France vociferously advocating for its inclusion. French state-owned EDF was the biggest individual nuclear lobbyist. The report also unveils <\/span>the role played by \u201castroturfed\u201d groups set up to \u201cmimic\u201d civil society groups<\/span><\/b>, as well as by nuclear industry expertise and influence that spreads to the EU Commission\u2019s own Joint Research Committee (JRC).<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Commission promising to address the fate of gas and nuclear in an additional set of delegated acts, campaigners are <\/span>warning of a \u201clife or death\u201d moment for the EU sustainable taxonomy<\/span><\/b>. Reclaim Finance calls on the Commission, EU Parliament and Member states to exclude gas and nuclear power. After their findings, the authors also argue for fossil fuel lobbyists to be banned from EU institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Schreiber concludes<\/span><\/span><\/strong>:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>\u201cWhile the gas industry unleashed a massive and expensive lobbying operation to pass itself off as a \u201ctransition fuel\u201d, the nuclear industry relied on diehard state supporters like France, well-connected industry experts and more subtle astroturfing to win over the hearts and minds of the EU Commission. These bulldozer-and-scalpel strategies are paying dividends: gas and nuclear are on the doorstep of the EU taxonomy. If they crossed the <\/span>threshold,<\/span> it would be the final nail in the coffin of what was once presented as the cornerstone of the EU sustainable finance strategy.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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