Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands have urged the European Union not to label gas energy projects as green investments, as Brussels attempts to establish a non-sustainable badge.

The European Commission has been drafted late last year to refer to gas and nuclear energy as green investments, a matter that has divided the bloc’s 27 countries as they disagree on how the fuels should contribute to Europe’s move to clean energy.

“The lack of scientific evidence for incorporing fossil gas into the Taxonomy should result in a decision of the European Commission,” the four countries said in a letter to the EU’s financial services chief.

Gas investment should not be labeled green unless they emit less than 100 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour, according to the nations. That corresponds with recommendations made last week by the EU’s expert advisers on the rules, but it is far lower than the 270g limit in the Commission’s draft plan.

Countries are awaiting the Commission’s final proposal, which it has said will be published soon, without specifying a date.

Once published, a majority of the European Parliament or a super-majority of EU member states – 20 of the 27 countries – might block the rules.

The late push from the four states adds to the discord around the EU’s “sustainable finance taxonomy,” a rulebook that aims to set a gold standard to guide private investment toward activities that comply with science-based goals to combat climate change.

In the midst of serious disagreements, the gas and nuclear regulations have been rescheduled for more than a year.

Gas and nuclear, among them Poland and the Czech Republic, are crucial to sanitizing countries off the dirtiest fossil fuel and coal. Opponents demand greater security and said it would not be credible to label gas, a fossil fuel, as green.

Gas produces roughly half of coal’s CO2 emissions when burned in power plants, but gas infrastructure is also associated with methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Source: Reuters