⁍ Power plants fuelled by natural gas will not be classed as a sustainable investment in Europe, unless they meet an emissions limit that none currently comply with.

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⁍ The landmark EU rules, due to be finalised this year, will force providers of financial products to disclose from the end of 2021 which investments meet climate criteria.

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⁍ The aim is to steer billions of euros in much-needed private funding into low-carbon projects to help the EU hit ambitious climate goals.

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– Gas-powered power plants in Europe are set to lose their “green” status if they don’t meet EU emissions limits, Reuters reports. According to a draft of EU regulations seen by the news agency, financial products will be required to label investments as “sustainable” by the end of 2021. The goal is to steer billions of euros in low-carbon funding toward projects that will help the EU hit its climate goals. To be classed as sustainable, plants must not produce more than 100 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour. Even Europe’s most efficient gas plants produce more than three times this limit, according to estimates by industry and independent climate think tank Ember. To comply, plants could use carbon capture and storage technology—currently, no European gas plants do so, although companies such as Equinor and Shell are developing local CCS projects in industrial sectors. “The gas lobby has had its core request conclusively rejected,” says Rebecca Vaughan, an analyst tracking industry lobbying for InfluenceMap. Companies including BP, Total, and Equinor signed an open letter to EU leaders this month calling for the green finance rules to build on the existing gas market and network as the backbone of the bloc’s future energy system. The rules would not ban companies from investing in projects that don’t meet the EU’s ‘sustainable’ criteria but industry groups have warned that excluding gas plants could mean they will struggle to raise finance—even for investments to reduce emissions.