Environmental NGOs strongly criticised the European Parliament’s votes on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 September (see EUROPE 12561/11, 12562/20) approving the possibility that natural gas projects could, under certain conditions, receive EU funding under the Just Transition Fund (JTF).
“The European Parliament struck another blow to the EU’s green credentials by opening the door to public money for gas”, Greenpeace reacted.
According to Silvia Pastorelli, a member of the NGO, “expecting local communities to kick their reliance on fossil fuels by funding gas is like trying to cycle faster by pedalling backwards”.
In particular, NGOs are concerned that public money will be invested in gas infrastructure that will exist for decades (‘stranded assets’), with no guarantee that it can be easily transformed to transport cleaner gases in the future, such as renewable hydrogen.
“Fossil gas is an economic dead-end in this time of economic crisis, as renewables and buildings renovation provide three times more jobs than any fossil fuel”, said Markus Trilling, member of CAN Europe.
GasNaturally, a partnership of eight organisations representing the European gas industry, however, welcomed the vote by MEPs.
These organisations believe that Parliament has sent a strong signal to the European Commission and Member States that “innovative gas solutions – renewable gas, hydrogen produced through electrolysis and CCUS [CO2 capture, use and storage technologies], biomethane – are vital for achieving the ambitious emissions reduction target of 55% by 2030 and reaching climate neutrality by 2050”.
While the first inter-institutional meeting (‘trilogues’) will take place on 24 September, negotiations between the co-legislators could lead to a completely different outcome.
Contrary to Parliament, the EU Council of the European Union has indeed decided to follow the initial Commission proposal which did not foresee the extension of the JTF to gas (see EUROPE 12513/9, 12403/2). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)