Ms Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission
European Commission
16th March 2022
Dear President,
As the terrible events in Ukraine rage on, European imports of gas, oil, coal and uranium continue to partly fund the crisis.
The Commission’s Taxonomy Complementary Delegated Act published on 2nd February 2022 included fossil gas and nuclear energy, in stark contrast with science, independent expert advice, existing EU legislation, investor demands and global practice on green bonds.
Not only does this mislead consumers and investors, and call into question the extent to which the Commission values scientific evidence, but labelling gas and nuclear energy as green incentivizes their further development in the EU and entrenches Europe’s dependence on gas and uranium imports – which can in turn fuel geopolitical turmoil.
Specifically, the new geopolitical situation reverses the paradigm that gas and nuclear are critical for EU energy security: it has become a driver of European energy insecurity and geopolitical weakness. It is therefore urgent to abandon any EU policy incentivising further use of gas and nuclear power.
In light of this, we ask you to withdraw the Taxonomy Complementary Delegated Act of 2 February 2022. We would also like to request a meeting or video call on this subject at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Jorgo Riss, Director Greenpeace European Unit and current chair of the Green 10.
Also on behalf of the Green 10 Directors:
Mark Martin, Executive Director Bankwatch Network
Ariel Brunner, Acting Director & Senior Head of Policy BirdLife Europe
Chiara Martinelli, Director Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe
Jeremy Wates, Secretary General EEB
Jagoda Munić, Director Friends of the Earth Europe
Génon K. Jensen, Executive Director Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)
Andrea Lichtenecker, Executive Director Naturefriends International
William Todts, Executive Director European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E)
Ester Asin, Director WWF European Policy Office
