Nuclear, Gas Win EU Court Boost in Blow to Green Groups
(Bloomberg) -- Austria lost a bid to topple the European Union’s decision to include gas and nuclear power in the bloc’s green rulebook, marking a defeat for environmental activists who fear they will be able to tap billions of euros of state aid and cheaper private finance.
Judges at the bloc’s General Court said EU regulators were allowed to declare the two energy sources as clean under the so-called taxonomy if certain conditions are met. The court ruled that they could “contribute substantially” to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The European Commission “was entitled to take the view that nuclear energy generation has near to zero greenhouse gas emissions and that there are currently no technologically and economically feasible low-carbon alternatives at a sufficient scale, such as renewable energy sources, to cover the energy demand in a continuous and reliable manner,” the Luxembourg-based EU tribunal said in a statement on Wednesday.
The judgment is a blow to climate activists who have fiercely criticized the role of gas and nuclear in the transition. The commission, the EU’s executive arm, defended itself by saying that the criteria were strict enough so that environmental harm would be minimized. Being designated as green makes it easier to qualify for subsidies and often paves the way for access to cheaper finance.
It is a “dark day for the climate,” said Martin Kaiser, executive director of Greenpeace Germany. “It channels billions into gas and nuclear instead of driving forward the rapid transition to renewable energy.”
The decision “is very regrettable,” said Norbert Totschnig, Austria’s agriculture minister, who also heads up the climate portfolio. “We were, and remain, of the opinion that nuclear power does not meet the criteria for environmental sustainability. Fossil gas will also only play a transitional role in the energy transition.”
Since being included in the taxonomy, nuclear power has undergone a resurgence in Europe, with Germany among nations dropping its strident opposition to the technology amid expectations of growing power demand and stable clean energy sources to compensate for intermittent renewables.
Kaiser said Greenpeace would now carefully review the ruling and decide on the next legal steps. The group has already challenged the green label for gas and nuclear in a separate case, while other organizations, including ClientEarth and WWF, have objected to the classification for gas specifically.
(Updates with Austria reaction in sixth paragraph.)
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
