- The European Parliament has voted to back the labelling of investments of nuclear power as “green”
- The proposal validates nuclear as key contributors in the goal to achieve net-zero by 2050
July 2022, London
On 6th July, the European Parliament voted to back the labelling of investments in nuclear energy as “green”. The European Commission had previously proposed the inclusion of nuclear energy in the bloc’s sustainable finance taxonomy, recognising its necessity for the EU’s 2050 net-zero goal.
An attempt to block the proposal culminated in the vote on the 6th of June, which, if successful, would have vetoed the decision to label nuclear as a “green” energy source. However, the EU Parliament voted against this veto. [3]
The vote means that nuclear power plants will be added to the EU “taxonomy” rulebook from the beginning of next year, assuming member countries do not object to it by 11th July. As such, investors will be able to label and market investments in these sectors as climate friendly. [4]
Investors can tap into the nuclear energy sector through the Uranium Miners ETF, which provides exposure to uranium miners. The Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) was created in partnership with Sprott Asset Management. Sprott are experts in the uranium space, overseeing a US-listed ETF with around $700 million AUM and a physical uranium trust with almost $3bn AUM. [6]
John Ciampaglia, manager of the Sprott Global Uranium Miners UCITS ETF, comments: “We are thrilled that the European Union has finally decided to include nuclear energy in its sustainable finance taxonomy. The science and facts behind nuclear energy make it a clear choice for addressing two massive challenges we are facing right now – energy security and decarbonization to meet climate change goals. We believe nuclear energy will be part of the solution given its low carbon footprint and reliable base load energy production. Institutional investors in Europe have been waiting on the sidelines for this to be approved. We would expect this ruling will pave the way to greater investment in nuclear energy, uranium and uranium mining companies.”
Hector McNeil, co-CEO and co-Founder of HANetf comments: “We’ve seen bold government commitments on restraining the rise in global temperature to 1.5C but that will require a revolution in how we generate our energy. While wind and solar have made huge strides and will be core parts of future electricity generation, it is becoming clear that nuclear generation also needs to be part of the panoply of solutions."
At HANetf we pride ourselves in bringing to the European market funds providing the solutions for a cleaner and greener world, be it wind and solar, sustainable gold and gold miners, physical carbon allowances, electric vehicle infrastructure – and importantly, nuclear energy, through our Uranium Miners ETF.”
Tom Bailey, Head of ETF Research at HANetf comments: : “A decade after Fukushima, we are seeing something of a renaissance in nuclear energy. Partly this is driven by the recognition that even the most ambitious clean energy build outs won’t cover the gap left behind by phasing out fossil fuels. In Europe, the importance of nuclear energy has been given further impetuous by the disastrous dependence of the continent on Russian energy imports.
The decision is good news for the ongoing renaissance of nuclear energy. By being including in the EU’s taxonomy, financing for existing and new nuclear power plants should become cheaper, making nuclear energy as a whole cheaper. Not including nuclear in the taxonomy would have made it more difficult for the continent to drastically reduce its carbon emissions and ultimately its reliance on Russian oil and gas imports.”
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