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Campaigners begin legal fight against EU taxonomy’s bioenergy rules
(EurActiv, 4 Feb 2022) Climate campaigners have started the process of a legal challenge against the European Union over the labelling of investments in bioenergy and plastics as green in its flagship sustainable finance rulebook.
The challenges concern the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy, a system that restricts which investments can be labelled as climate-friendly, and which the EU hopes investors will use to guide more capital to low-carbon projects.
Environmental law charity ClientEarth on Thursday (3 February) formally asked the European Commission to review the rules allowing bioenergy investments to be labelled sustainable, which it said violate the law underpinning the EU taxonomy, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The investment rules on bioenergy – derived from burning wood or other biomass such as crop residues and animal waste which critics say leads to CO2 emissions and deforestation – took effect in January.
The EU classes bioenergy as renewable, based on benefits including that plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, which at least partially offsets the CO2 emitted when they are burned for fuel. Biomass used in the EU must also comply with sustainability criteria to protect old forests and habitats.
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EurActiv, 4 Feb 2022: Campaigners begin legal fight against EU taxonomy’s bioenergy rules
