58 CEOs and associations call for enhancing gas contribution to decarbonisation

On 19 October, 58 CEOs and associations representing the European gas sector have sent a letter calling on the EU institutions to ensure that all EU financial mechanisms recognize gas as an indispensable part of the energy transition towards a carbon neutral economy in 2050.

Even today gas plays an important role for balancing variable renewables at an affordable cost, reducing CO2 emissions and guaranteeing system reliability. Gas remains crucial in facilitating the integration of renewable and decarbonised energy and lowering the overall societal cost of the energy transition. Efforts supporting and facilitating the decarbonisation of the whole gas value chain should therefore be considered as environmentally sustainable investments by the upcoming delegated act introducing technical criteria on climate mitigation under the EU Taxonomy regulation. The signatory leaders emphasize that technology neutrality is primary to the definition of rules to determine which future investments should be considered sustainable.

Appropriately designed EU financing mechanisms should enable swift replacement of coal with gas as a transitional solution to bridge the investment and technological gap. In the medium and long-term, the EU gas system should be decarbonised through a fit for purpose policy framework, which includes scaling up renewable and low carbon gases. A predictable regulatory environment for innovation and investment in renewable and low carbon gas technologies is necessary to generate investor confidence, ensure technological advances, create more jobs and prevent energy poverty.

For more info, please see the letter attached.