BEHIND THE CURTAINS: When the gas and nuclear lobbies reshape the EU sustainable taxonomy

The briefing by Reclaim Finance details how the fossil gas and nuclear lobbies have exerted significant pressure on the European Commission to include their activities in the EU sustainable taxonomy. Despite the Technical Expert Group's initial recommendation to exclude them based on environmental harm and carbon thresholds, the document highlights a high volume of meetings between EU officials and lobbyists, as well as substantial financial spending by these sectors to reshape the regulation.

• The Technical Expert Group (TEG) initially excluded nuclear energy from the taxonomy because it could not be determined if the activity would "not significantly harm" the environment, specifically citing unresolved issues regarding the disposal of nuclear waste.
• The TEG established a carbon threshold of 100g CO2/kWh for power generation, which effectively blocked most fossil gas projects from receiving sustainable finance through the taxonomy.
• A significant lobbying apparatus exists to influence the European Commission, consisting of 189 players from the gas and nuclear sectors employing 825 lobbyists (450 full-time equivalents) with annual spending estimated between €71.4 million and €86.6 million.
• The fossil gas lobby is identified as particularly powerful, comprising 167 entities that spend between €68.8 million and €82.9 million annually to promote gas as a "bridge" energy.
• EU officials held 310 meetings with gas and nuclear lobbyists between January 2018 and July 7, 2020, with the frequency of these meetings increasing after the TEG's final report was published in March 2020.
• The European Investment Bank (EIB) adopted a higher CO2 threshold of 250g CO2/kWh in November 2019, which the document suggests may serve as a precedent for the Commission to allow more gas projects.

APA

Schreiber, P., Pinson, L., Ileri, E. C., & Jeandon, J. (2020). BEHIND THE CURTAINS: When the gas and nuclear lobbies reshape the EU sustainable taxonomy. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reclaim-Finance-Media-Briefing-EU-Sustainable-Taxonomy-1.pdf

Chicago

Schreiber, Paul, Lucie Pinson, Eren Can Ileri, and Jordan Jeandon. BEHIND THE CURTAINS: When the gas and nuclear lobbies reshape the EU sustainable taxonomy. Reclaim Finance, 2020. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reclaim-Finance-Media-Briefing-EU-Sustainable-Taxonomy-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schreiber |first1=Paul |last2=Pinson |first2=Lucie |last3=Ileri |first3=Eren Can |last4=Jeandon |first4=Jordan |title=BEHIND THE CURTAINS: When the gas and nuclear lobbies reshape the EU sustainable taxonomy |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=August 2020 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reclaim-Finance-Media-Briefing-EU-Sustainable-Taxonomy-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schreiber2020behind, author = {Schreiber, Paul and Pinson, Lucie and Ileri, Eren Can and Jeandon, Jordan}, title = {{BEHIND THE CURTAINS: When the gas and nuclear lobbies reshape the EU sustainable taxonomy}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Reclaim-Finance-Media-Briefing-EU-Sustainable-Taxonomy-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }