NGOs walk out of expert Taxonomy group over lack of independence

14 September 2022
by WWF -- last modified 14 September 2022

BEUC, Birdlife, ECOS, T&E and WWF leave the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. NGOs claim the European Commission has interfered politically in the group and acted against evidence despite its legal obligation to follow science-based advice.

Five environmental and consumer NGOs have left the Platform on Sustainable Finance, the European Commission's expert group mandated to develop technical recommendations for the EU Taxonomy.

Civil society groups argue that the Commission has interfered politically in the Platform's work. NGOs also denounce that the Commission has repeatedly ignored the expert group's recommendations, particularly on forestry, bioenergy, gas-fired power and nuclear power, without providing any sound scientific justification for these decisions.

The Commission is legally bound to justify the Taxonomy criteria based on 'conclusive scientific evidence'. However, Brussels has chosen to ignore science and listen to industry lobby groups for several critical sectors.

Despite the Platform's recommendations based on scientific data, the Commission included gas and nuclear as environmentally sustainable investments. The decision was confirmed by EU governments and the European Parliament, and has now become EU law.

Civil society groups informed European Commissioner Mairead McGuiness of their resignation in a letter sent on Tuesday, 13 September.

The resigning organisations are the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), Birdlife Europe and Central Asia, Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS), Transport & Environment, and the WWF European Policy Office.

WWF is an independent conservation organisation, with over 30 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

WWF EU