New Czech Government’s Climate Policy: Cloudy with a Chance of Curveballs

On the initial reading of the draft of the new rules, these 10 states found that wish granted. But on going through the small print, the new Czech government discovered that gas would only be classed as green until 2030 and nuclear for just the next 23 years.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who heads a five-party coalition that took office less than two weeks before the draft was released, instantly demanded the conditions be thrown out.

We "need to adjust the conditions of the nuclear and gas taxonomy so that they… do not jeopardise… energy security, the competitiveness of companies in the Czech Republic and the social field," he said.

Asked whether Prague had met the feedback deadline to lodge its complaints, a government spokesman referred BIRN to a tweet by Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela, which confirmed that the Czech Republic had "asked for adjustments to the proposal so that it is realistic and non-discriminatory".

An activist holds a banner 'R.I.P EU Taxonomy' during an action organized by World Wide Fund for Nature WWF to protest against the European Commission's plan to classify the gas and nuclear sectors as sustainable in its taxonomy of economic sectors, in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 29 November 2021. EPA-EFE/STEPHANIE LECOCQ Fresh hope

The new Czech prime minister's early appearances have suggested he has little time for the lofty concerns of countries like Spain, Austria, Luxembourg and Denmark, which warned in a letter on Thursday that the European Commission's to classify gas and nuclear as sustainable is "a step backwards" and risks the entire energy transition project.

Just three days after coming to power, Fiala condemned plans contained in...