French nuclear to suffer after exclusion from EU’s green investment label

(EurActiv, 25 Jun 2019) The European Parliament’s decision to exclude the nuclear energy sector from the list of investments that can benefit from the EU’s green investment label will have consequences for the sector, particularly in France. EURACTIV France reports.

Financing the energy transition is undoubtedly one of the major challenges of our century. To give itself the means to achieve its ambition, “the European Parliament recently voted in favour of a sustainable finance taxonomy project that defines a framework for activities considered environmental or green,” explained Nicolas Redon, Novethic’s green finance expert.

The main aim is to ensure capital flows are increasingly directed towards a low-carbon economy because the needs are so colossal.

On the basis of work carried out by the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG), the European Court of Auditors estimated that the cost of the energy transition in Europe between 2021 and 2030 would reach more than €1 trillion per year.

Directing capital flows towards a low-carbon economy

Investments in fossil fuels and nuclear energy are no longer part of sustainable finance and hence kept away from the financing needs of the transition.

In the same vein, the European Commission is working on a “European green investment label that would make it easier to channel investment funds into clean energy by the end of 2020”, added Nicolas Redon.

Logically, the new taxonomy set up by the EU should help stimulate the supply of sustainable financial products, and therefore the sums invested in clean energies.

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EurActiv, 25 Jun 2019: French nuclear to suffer after exclusion from EU’s green investment label