An activist dressed as French President Emmanuel Macron denounces Paris's push to include nuclear energy on an EU green list. Photo: Reuters
An activist dressed as French President Emmanuel Macron denounces Paris's push to include nuclear energy on an EU green list. Photo: Reuters
An activist dressed as French President Emmanuel Macron denounces Paris's push to include nuclear energy on an EU green list. Photo: Reuters
An activist dressed as French President Emmanuel Macron denounces Paris's push to include nuclear energy on an EU green list. Photo: Reuters

Outcry over EU's 'greenwashing' of nuclear and gas


Tim Stickings
  • English
  • Arabic

The EU is facing a backlash against its proposals to include nuclear power and natural gas on a list of climate-friendly investments.

Activists and EU members were angered after the European Commission said both nuclear and gas had a role to play in the transition to cleaner energy.

It added them to a draft of the so-called EU taxonomy, a brochure of climate-friendly investments from which investors will be encouraged to choose. The move follows promises by the private sector at the Cop26 summit that it would act with the planet’s interests in mind.

Greenpeace said the proposals were a “licence to greenwash”, or conceal unpleasant facts about a company's environmental footprint - the very kind of trickery that an EU-sanctioned green list was meant to avoid.

“Polluting companies will be delighted to have the EU’s seal of approval to attract cash and keep wrecking the planet by burning fossil gas and producing radioactive waste,” said Greenpeace’s Magda Stoczkiewicz.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) criticised Brussels for “sneaking out” the proposal on New Year’s Day and giving countries only until January 12 to submit further objections after months of intensive lobbying.

After that, it will go to the European Parliament and Council for approval. Only certain nuclear and gas projects will qualify.

“Short of digging an actual hole, the European Commission couldn’t have tried harder to bury this proposal,” said WWF spokesman Henry Eviston.

Germany, the EU’s leading opponent of nuclear power which last week closed three of its last six reactors, said the decision to include atomic energy on the list was “absolutely wrong”.

But it gave a mixed verdict on natural gas, exposing a potential rift between the Greens and Liberals in the new coalition in Berlin.

Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner said gas was a necessary stopgap as Germany turns its back nuclear and coal, while Green Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said the EU had watered down sustainability.

Greenpeace activists project an anti-nuclear slogan onto a German cooling tower at one of the plants disconnected last week. EPA
Greenpeace activists project an anti-nuclear slogan onto a German cooling tower at one of the plants disconnected last week. EPA

Austria, another anti-nuclear lobbyist in Europe, also said the EU’s proposals had taken a step towards greenwashing nuclear and gas.

The two energy sources are “harmful to the climate and environment and destroy the future of our children,” said Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler.

The EU’s decision represents a victory for France and other pro-nuclear countries including Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, who had lobbied Brussels to include it on the list.

While Germany was spooked by the 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima disasters into scrapping nuclear power, France and others see it as a low-carbon energy source that reduces Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

Nuclear power provided about 25 per cent of the EU’s electricity in 2020. Fossil fuels accounted for 37 per cent and renewables 38 per cent.

The EU “cannot become carbon neutral by 2050 without nuclear energy”, said France’s European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, referring to Europe’s plans to become the first net-zero continent by that date.

Analysts had regarded the inclusion of gas as a potential compromise to win over countries such as Germany. Although gas is a fossil fuel, it produces less carbon dioxide than coal or oil.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
  • Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
  • Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
  • Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
  • Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
  • Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734

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To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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7pm: Flood Zone
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Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

The biog:

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Favourite animals: All of them 

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Gully Boy

Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi​​​​​​​
Rating: 4/5 stars

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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Ultra processed foods

- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns 

- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;

- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces

- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,

- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

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Singapore

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Australia

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Saudi Arabia

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Our legal consultant

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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

RESULT

Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)

Race card:

6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m

7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m

7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m

8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m

8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m

9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m

10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m

Updated: January 03, 2022, 10:58 AM`