5
Jul
2022
Watch
Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner McGuinness, dear colleagues, I'm afraid, Commissioner McGuinness, that many of my colleagues in this Chamber believe in what in my primary school, in your primary school would have been called the Immaculate Energy Transition. They think that burying it all in renewables will be enough and we will just stop climate change. And so did Germany believe until a few months ago and now it is reopening coal plants. The reality is that as long as we do not have a viable large-scale storage technology, renewables will not be enough. And in the transition, we will need to use nuclear and gas for a very limited period of time. Nuclear is a useful transition technology because it doesn’t emit any CO2 and the taxonomy allows investments up to 2045. Also, gas is necessary in the transition, as this war has made - sadly - painfully clear. Gas emits have half as much CO2 as coal. That’s not ideal, but it’s the most reasonable temporary alternative. Moreover, it’s only given this label transitionally for seven years. Therefore, this recommendation is a balanced compromise and a key step towards a sensible transition. That is why I’m not going to vote for this objection and I ask my colleagues to do the same.