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EurActiv (1 November 2021)

Sven Giegold, a Green MEP who is one of the key negotiators in the German government coalition talks, told EURACTIV that Germany will need “small volumes” of additional gas capacity in order to “stabilise” renewable power on the electricity grid. However, he is opposed to the inclusion of gas in the EU’s green finance taxonomy.

Sven Giegold is a German Member of the European Parliament who sits on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs for the Greens group. He is a member of the core team deciding on the next German “traffic light” coalition, part of the negotiation working group on finance and budget.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:

• Germany needs to put itself on a 1.5°C pathway, which means phasing out coal and all other fossil fuels.
• However, Germany will probably need small volumes of additional gas capacity in order to stabilise renewable electricity supplies.
• All new gas capacity must be ready for hydrogen so that hydrogen produced from renewable sources can take over soon.
• Investment into fossil gas – as well as nuclear power – should be excluded from the EU’s green finance taxonomy.
• By pushing for nuclear’s inclusion in the taxonomy, France and Eastern EU countries are acting as the “gravediggers” of the EU’s sustainable finance agenda.

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