A coalition of NGOs from different European Union Member States announced, on Friday 16 September, that they had filed a case with the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), seeking to overturn the European Commission’s decision to classify bioenergy and forestry as ‘sustainable’ in the EU taxonomy.
On the same day, the NGO ClientEarth reported that it had also referred the matter to the CJEU for the same reason. However, its legal action is broader, as it also covers bioplastics.
Both actions for annulment follow the Commission’s refusal to review the criteria for including these activities in the taxonomy as ‘sustainable’ investments, despite requests for a review filed by NGOs in February 2022 (see EUROPE 12884/14).
According to the NGOs, these criteria “violate basic legal obligations under primary EU law as well as key obligations under the Taxonomy Regulation because they are not based in scientific evidence, they fail to mitigate climate change, and they cause significant harm to the environment”.
For bioenergy and forestry, the main criterion used by the Commission is that these activities comply with the requirements set out in the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001) (RED II), including sustainable harvesting (see EUROPE 12703/2).
Subject to much criticism, these standards are currently being revised (see other news).
Once this review is completed, the Commission will review the criteria for bioenergy and forestry in the light of the new standards set out in the RED II Directive.
A review will also take place when the Commission’s delegated act on the biodiversity component of the taxonomy is published.
The seven NGOs forming the coalition are: Comite Schone Lucht, Save Estonia’s Forests, Robin Wood, Workshop for All Beings, ZERO, 2Celsius and Protect the Forest.
See the ClientEarth press release: https://aeur.eu/f/34h (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)