VIENNA — Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s energy and climate minister announced that she would take the case to the European Court of Justice if the union’s executive proceeds with plans to include nuclear and natural gas in the EU taxonomy of sustainable finance.
About gas, Gewessler said that it releases unconscionable amounts of greenhouse gases. “Just because something is less bad than coal doesn’t make it good or sustainable.”
Regarding nuclear energy she said it has unpredictably high risks, referring to Chernobyl and Fukushima. She also mentioned as great concerns, the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel and lack of a global solution for its final storage.
Since the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Austria is aligned with Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and Portugal in opposing further investments in nuclear power.
However, France, Finland and ten other EU countries have been pushing for nuclear expansion. They still claim it is a low-carbon technology and trust that the radioactive waste problem can be solved.
Luxemburg, Germany and Spain stated they will join Austria before the court, if necessary. Svenja Schulze, Gewesser’s German counterpart said of nuclear power, “it is too risky, it is too slow, it is too expensive!"
