Greenpeace sues the European Commission for investments in gas production and nuclear energy

Greenpeace will file a lawsuit against the European Commission on Tuesday in the European Court of General Jurisdiction, accusing the body of greenwashing, reports Bloomberg. The organization considers it illegal to include gas production and nuclear power generation in the list of sectors that fit into the concept of clean energy and require additional investment to achieve climate goals.

The struggle between Greenpeace and the European Commission around the labeling of gas and peaceful atom as environmentally friendly types of energy has been going on since last autumn. In September 2022, eight regional divisions of Greenpeace, as well as a pan-European division of the organization, sent a request to the European Commission to review its decision. This request argued that the inclusion of gas and nuclear power in the above list violated Taxonomy Rules, European climate law and EU commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

However, on February 9 this year, the European Commission denied Greenpeace’s request. Then the environmental organization promised sue the European Commission, which will happen today. Four other environmental groups also oppose the actions of the European regulator: Transport & Environment, WWF (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation), ClientEarth and BUND.

Kirill Sarkhanyants