Brussels lets nature suffocate by relaxing environmental rules | opinion
This year, the European Commission will relax environmental rules for the generation of sustainable energy. This hasty rush behind the energy transition is crooked and hypocritical.
With an emergency regulation, the European Commission wants to speed up projects for the generation of solar and wind energy and also biomass. The intention is to start accelerating ahead of next year’s revised Renewable Energy Directive. Brussels does this by being more flexible with permits, skipping the European Parliament and thus shortening the procedure time.
It sounds better and therefore than it is, because with the adoption of the emergency ordinance, Brussels not only gives the forestry industry ample scope to further and large-scale appropriation of protected forests and agricultural land, it also works in the wheels of EU environmental legislation. With a delay in the energy transition as a result.
Trend break
What is conveniently forgotten is that this approach conflicts with the European Habitats and Birds Directives and principles of public participation. In the explanation, the Committee states that the situation is ‘too urgent to consult’. But environmental legislation and the voice of the people cannot simply be brushed aside, especially when industry does have a say. With the emergency ordinance, the forestry industry is once again given free rein, including forest clearing and the relaxation of infrastructure in forests.
Gold in the Netherlands for decades, based on European legislation, the so-called ‘renewability’ of biomass combustion for energy as an indisputable fact. Climate Minister Rob Jetten put the knife to the test here for the first time in April last year by immediately closing the subsidy tap for new biomass projects. The Netherlands introduced the tone and challenged Brussels. In addition to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg also joined in by openly questioning the renewability findings.
Australia’s recent decision to no longer term biomass as ‘renewable’ caused a second trend break with biomass policy last month. In one fell swoop it became clear that biomass is also being disqualified outside Europe.
Delay
However, this does not seem to be enough for Brussels to adjust the biomass policy. On the contrary. Even the emergency call from world leaders in Montreal to protect nature has fallen on deaf ears in Brussels. Brussels remains focused on preserving biomass in the revised sustainability directive, but also on parallelism, such as from the new visible rules.
But necessity does not break every law; doing away with citizen participation and environmental legislation to replace, for example, accelerated timber harvests, some will result in new protests and lengthy legal proceedings. With the opposite effect: a slowing down of the energy transition instead of accelerating it in the future.
Frans Timmermans, vice president of the EC and major promoter of biomass, shows his true nature: interest in climate, nature and biodiversity as the loss. But if the need is there, rather not.
Fenna Swart is chairman of the Clean Air Committee member of the International Coalition against Biomass Combustion (ICBB) Head of Research & Education, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.