On 1 December 2025, the government of the United Kingdom announced that its updated green-finance framework will now include nuclear energy — meaning that proceeds from “green gilts” and green savings bonds can be used to fund nuclear-power projects, effective 27 November 2025.

This marks a major shift: nuclear — long excluded from many sustainable-finance taxonomies due to concerns around cost, waste, and long-term risk — is being reclassified alongside renewables and energy-efficiency projects as eligible for “green” investment funds.

Proponents argue the move reflects evolving global realities: rising demand for stable, low-carbon baseload power, growing energy-security pressures, and the need for firm power sources amid rising electricity demand (from data-centres, electrification, etc.).

Yet the decision remains controversial. Critics and some financial institutions — recognizing nuclear’s unresolved long-lived waste challenges, high capital costs, and regulatory risks — worry that labeling nuclear as “green” could undermine trust in green-finance standards.

The reclassification signals a broader pivot in sustainable-finance strategy: balancing climate-ambition with practical considerations such as reliability, security, and feasibility — potentially transforming how “green investments” are defined globally.