Luxembourg, Sept. 10, 2025 (dpa/NAN) The European Commission may continue to classify nuclear power and gas as climate-friendly, an European Union (EU) court in Luxembourg ruled on Wednesday.
The judges had dismissed Austria’s lawsuit against the so-called taxonomy, the court announced.
It noted that Austria could still appeal the ruling to the next higher instance, the Court of Justice of the EU.
The EU’s so-called taxonomy listed economic activities that were in line with the bloc’s ambitious climate and environmental goals.
The classification system was intended to help companies and citizens identify climate-friendly projects for investments.
The rules also included gas and nuclear power projects.
Austria had filed a complaint in 2022, accusing the European Commission of green washing nuclear and gas-powered electricity generation.
The Austrian government argued that under the taxonomy, a sustainable energy source might not lead to severe environmental problems.
Nuclear power, however, is linked to severe environmental risks, it said, while burning gas releases climate-damaging carbon-dioxide, the complaint added.
The EU court, however, found no fault with the commission’s assessment of nuclear energy and gas, and these economic activities were considered sustainable within the definition of the EU taxonomy.
Under the rules, so-called transitional economic activities for which there were no technically and economically viable low-carbon alternatives can be sustainable under this EU regulation.
Investments in gas or nuclear power plants are considered climate-friendly if they used the technologies with the lowest emissions currently available.
The judges concluded that the production of nuclear energy caused virtually no greenhouse gas emissions and that there were currently no sufficient alternative technologies available to meet energy demand consistently and reliably.
“The EU climate label is a gradual approach based on a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in stages, while allowing for security of supply,” the court said.
Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have also filed separate lawsuits.
“A black day for the climate,” said Martin Kaiser, executive director of Greenpeace Germany.
With this classification, billions would flow into gas and nuclear power instead of promoting the rapid transition to renewable energies, he warned. (dpa/NAN)
