{"id":46227,"date":"2022-05-17T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/?p=46227"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:01:55","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T16:01:55","slug":"russian-doll-gas-nuclear-lobbying-taxonomy-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/issues\/climate-energy\/46227\/russian-doll-gas-nuclear-lobbying-taxonomy-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Russian doll\u2019 gas and nuclear lobbying threatens EU energy independence \u2013 new research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Russian fossil gas and nuclear firms could earn billions more thanks to EU taxonomy \u2018green\u2019 label<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

READ THE FULL REPORT FROM GREENPEACE FRANCE HERE <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n

Brussels, 17 May 2022<\/strong> <\/strong>\u2013 Russian energy firms Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosatom used lobbying connections reminiscent of nesting Russian dolls to influence the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy of sustainable investments, according to new research by Greenpeace France.<\/p>\n\n

The research also found that Russia is set to be one of the main beneficiaries of the planned addition of gas and nuclear to the EU\u2019s list of sustainable investments, handing Vladimir Putin additional bargaining power over the EU and providing money to fuel the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n

The research revealed that Russian energy companies have met EU commissioners and senior officials either directly or through subsidiaries and lobby groups at least 18 times since the European Commission published its action plan on sustainable finance in March 2018. <\/p>\n\n

According to the report, Russia could earn an extra \u20ac4 billion per year from a taxonomy-aligned expansion of gas capacity, totalling \u20ac32 billion by 2030, while the inclusion of nuclear energy in the taxonomy would allow Rosatom, a Russian state-owned nuclear power company with strong commercial links to the European nuclear industry, to secure a share of an estimated \u20ac500 billion of potential investment in new EU nuclear capacity. <\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace EU sustainable finance campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo <\/strong>said: \u201cGazprom, Rosatom and Lukoil campaigned for gas and nuclear to get the EU\u2019s sustainable label, strengthening Putin\u2019s geopolitical power and making the EU more dependent on Russian energy for decades to come. The crimes committed by Putin\u2019s army in Ukraine are a cruel reminder of how the EU\u2019s dependence on fossil gas and nuclear energy actively contributes to war and human rights violations. As the EU Commission gets ready to unveil its RePowerEU plan to break free from Russian energy dependence, rejecting gas and nuclear from the taxonomy is an obvious move that MEPs can take to show Putin that he has written Russia out of Europe\u2019s energy future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Russia currently supplies 45% of Europe\u2019s gas<\/a> and 20% of its enriched uranium<\/a>. Russia also provides technical maintenance services at 18 Russian-designed nuclear power plants<\/a> in the EU, mostly in central and eastern Europe, and stores vast quantities of the EU\u2019s radioactive waste<\/a>, including waste produced in countries such as France, Germany and Bulgaria. <\/p>\n\n

To date, imports of Russian fossil gas, gas turbines, uranium and other nuclear services have been exempted from the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The European Commission has proposed to ban Russian firms<\/a> from hiring EU lobbying and public relations firms in the future, but this has not yet been approved by EU governments.<\/p>\n\n

Some of the most illustrative examples of Russian corporate lobbying detailed in the report include:<\/p>\n\n