Access nuclear and natural gas can help attain green deal targets - Alfred Sant

Whilst acknowledging they are not environmentally neutral, Sant said they offer reasonable transitional paths to environmentally neutral energy

Labour MEP Alfred Sant
Labour MEP Alfred Sant

Former Prime Minister and Labour MEP Alfred Sant said that in order to attain green deal targets, access to sources of nuclear and natural gas energy were imperative.

He emphasised that in order to attain the targets, justified anxieties about security of energy supplies and rising global inflation must first be allayed. “For this to happen it is imperative that access to sources of nuclear and natural gas energy are flexibly put in place,” Sant said.

Sant voted against the revocation of the European Commission’s Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act on climate change mitigation and adaptation which covers certain gas and nuclear activities.

The Taxonomy Regulation is part of the European Commission’s action plan. It aims to prevent greenwashing and to encourage investors to identify economic activities in line with our environmental and climate objectives. The Complementary Climate Delegated Act promulgated by the European Commission includes additional economic activities from the energy sector that are to be in the European Taxonomy: natural gas and nuclear energy sectors.

This has prompted huge protests from green activists who lobbied hard for the European Parliament to vote down the Complementary Delegated Act.

Sant acknowledged that nuclear and natural gas are not environmentally neutral. However, he stressed that they offer reasonable transitional paths to environmentally neutral energy.

Moreover, gas and nuclear activities can prove crucial in keeping economies going as public authorities try to reach their anti-global warming goals. The Labour MEP stated that the inclusion in the “green” taxonomy of nuclear and gas covers this scenario in the clearest and most transparent manner.

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