The purpose of the European Commission’s green taxonomy is clear. To hit its ambitious climate goals — reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 — the EU needs to mobilise a flood of capital to finance the necessary investment, funnelling bank loans, bond investors and stock markets towards environmentally friendly “green” technologies and away from unfriendly “brown” ones. Where best to draw the line, however, is far less straightforward. The scale of the task demands a radical approach; to meet its goals the EU must start rapidly phasing out fossil fuels now. But it also requires a recognition of just how difficult it will be to deploy sufficient renewable energy.
Including natural gas as a “transitional fuel” is justified, but only temporarily and with strict conditions. Partly the reasoning for labelling the fossil fuel as “green”, in a proposal published at the new year, is political. The commission anticipates the need for a grand bargain between the nuclear-dependent France and more c