Moreover, the deal’s long but still visible horizon—slightly longer than one generation—means that this goal is technically achievable while still addressing activists’ concerns. After a virtual meeting with him earlier Tuesday, the 18-year-old Thunberg and three fellow campaigners said they told Timmermans he should withdraw the Commission's proposal … The European Green Deal could have similar technological spillovers, not just for renewable energy but also for complementary technologies such as energy storage. Circular economy: The Commission’s “Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe” is one of the main thrusts of the Green Deal. But the climate targets she’s proposing would be too little too late. Added to those environmental concerns, the EU is worried about being left behind in a green technology shift. By logging in, you confirm acceptance of our POLITICO Privacy Policy. If implemented successfully, it will enable Europe to play a leading role in redefining how the world achieves sustainable economic … If you do not have a login you can register here. Sea level rise alone could be costing Europe €135 billion to €145 billion per year by the 2050s, rising to €450 billion to €650 billion by the 2080s. Finally, you need to know that both of Timmermans’ grandfathers were coal miners. To begin with, it proposes that the bloc only agree to new comprehensive trade agreements with countries that are parties to and are effectively implementing the Paris agreement—most obviously excluding the United States if President Donald Trump is reelected next year. There is no doubt that the European Green Deal is ambitious: It aims to decarbonize the world’s second-largest economy within three decades. To do so, it first needs to shed any illusions that climate action is going to be a cooperative process in which the world harmoniously decarbonizes. In presenting her Green Deal last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as Europe’s “man on the moon moment.” It is an apt metaphor for the endeavor: The United States put a man on the moon on its own, paying the full cost for Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind. A mix of cash from the EU budget and loans from the European Investment Bank to “support the transition towards a climate-neutral economy by public sector authorities.” There’s a song about the EIB (no, really) that’s a mix of heavy metal and music hall. Its powerful instruments and innovative governance will drive the necessary systemic changes to reach climate neutrality and ensure an inclusive ecological and economic transition. Also, none of this factors in the economic costs of inaction of climate change, which are devastating. In a live webcast in July, Pictet Asset Management’s co-head of clean energy Xavier Chollet explained that one reason why the EU Green Deal has transformed into a large economic stimulus is because of the Covid-19 health crisis. China’s Vaccine Diplomacy Has Mixed Results. It’s bad. The "European Green Deal" aims to make the EU the world's first "climate-neutral" continent by 2050. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers in Europe. Horizon Europeis the EU's next research and innovation programme starting in 2021. Timmermans is sure to tell you that the deal is intended to be Europe’s “new growth strategy.”, But it’s about more than that. Dimitris Valatsas is the chief economist at Greenmantle. European Green Deal is a key policy plank of the new European Commission led by President Ursula von der Leyen. Upfront investments will be needed to switch energy, industry and transport to clean tech. The European Green Deal . It covers every aspect of society and the economy and includes goals for biodiversity and agriculture. It took time to develop the right tools to rebuild the economy. Good investments pay themselves back, so the Commission predicts overall impact on GDP will be minimal. The PRI’s report sets out recommendations to ensure that investors can scale up their contribution to the EU Green Deal and sustainability goals more broadly. The centerpiece is the European Climate Law, which is in the final stages of negotiation between EU institutions. Policymakers are also being pushed by increasingly vocal protesters and a growing awareness that the time to cut greenhouse gas emissions is running very short. Instead, she dives back into pure science. Dezember 2019, 18:53 Uhr Europa: Kritik am "New Green Deal" Detailansicht öffnen. How is Timmermans going to reform Europe’s existing policy infrastructure to ensure it all serves the emissions goals? The past 30 years have already given observers a taste of that: From 1990 to 2018, the EU’s emissions were down 23 percent. She “drifted” into oceanography “just because it was interesting. The modern European version is just a year old and still in its early stages. Green Deal, Greener World... Last week, the European Commission issued its “Communication on the European Green Deal”—the European Union’s legislative roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on the continent. The Green Deal takes a carrot-and-stick approach. He’ll have to find a way to get the auto industry to institute radical new emissions standards for cars and trucks, and accept that they will soon be subject to Europe’s carbon pricing system. Emissions: Ursula Von der Leyen has asked EU countries to cut emissions so deeply and so fast in just a decade that it would be roughly the same as shutting down Germany. To understand why, it’s worth learning a bit about the U.S. program from which the Green Deal gets its name. To succeed, the EU must embrace climate unilateralism. But that slim size conceals a big punch. All illustrations by Marcus Marritt for POLITICO. An diesen Aufgaben wirkt ein breites Spektrum von Interessenträgern mit, darunter Regionen und die Zivilgesellschaft. Finally, the EU sees climate change as an issue that allows it to play the role of a global power — pestering the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Agreement, making deals with China and pressing other countries to also boost their climate pledges. An impact assessed plan will also be presented to increase the EU's greenhouse gas emission reductions target for 2030 to at least 50% and towards 55% compared with 1990 levels. Vier Aufgaben im Rahmen des Green Deals („Green-Deal-Missions“) werden dazu beitragen, umfassende Veränderungen in Bereichen wie Anpassung an den Klimawandel, Ozeane, Städte und Böden herbeizuführen. Youth climate activists led by Greta Thunberg accused EU Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans of lacking the courage to align the bloc's massive farm subsidies scheme with his own flagship climate goals. But by being the first major economy to take the plunge, Europe has decided to pay the high costs of early adoption for the uncertain promise that it will benefit others in the future. If the world isn’t careful, renewable energy could become as Schulze, Svenja: The German environment minister who is tasked with leading negotiations among EU countries on climate. The fund is there to help “support the economic diversification and reconversion of the territories concerned” — and, one suspects, because it wouldn’t be the EU if there weren’t two things that sound the same but aren’t quite the same. The European Green Deal (minus the word “new’ with its radical overtones) is not yet one year old. A prize-winning climate scientist, she’s an adviser on climate policy to both the French and British governments. Europe’s Green Deal Is Great, Unless It’s a Backdoor to a Planned Economy . Also, the stuff that EU dreams are made of: lots of technical details, lots of politics and lots for MEPs and EU countries to fight about until they strike a deal. How Far Will the Ethiopian-Eritrean Alliance Go? InvestEU is an umbrella term for EU funding schemes, with the Green Deal cash being just one of many. Together they will foster new technologies, sustainable solutions and disruptive innovation and spread successful new sol… By driving the economy toward carbon neutrality, EU climate policymaking can prove as much for others. Most of today’s greenhouse gases come from power production and transportation, but there are also significant contributions from industry, commercial and residential fuel combustion and agriculture. Poland, which still produces 80% … Le Quéré chairs France’s High Council on Climate and is a member of the U.K. Committee on Climate Change — both independent scientific advisory bodies set up to keep government climate policy on track. The Green Deal is no longer the hazy aspiration of a few climate action enthusiasts; it is a detailed mainstream policy document affecting every sector in one of the richest, most sophisticated economies in the world. Exasperated by the arduous negotiations, two EU members recently resorted to unusual means: Both the French and Spanish governments sent letters to the EU. Angela Merkel might even agree: she’s trying to salvage her reputation as the ‘Climate Chancellor’ by getting all EU members, including coal-reliant Poland, to back a higher 2030 climate goal by the end of the year. Which begs the question: Why don’t we just shut down Germany? Troops After All. “I didn’t know what to do. Here’s an alternative. Those 24 pages lay out a radical project to make the EU climate neutral by 2050 — that means the world’s second-largest economy will stop adding to the earth’s stock of greenhouse gases by then. Philippines Leaning Toward Allowing U.S. The wrangling will start when Timmermans presents legislation on how to meet the 2030 target in June 2021. Green Deal, Greener World Unlike the U.S. Democrats’ Green New Deal, the European Union’s version is technically feasible. The latter is related to tax exemptions for kerosene, which the Commission intends to review. Finally, to be successful, the EU will need to use its economic size and influence in trade and foreign policy if it is to drive climate action worldwide. Just Transition Fund: Yet another part of the Just Transition Mechanism. The European Green Deal is the European Commission’s blueprint and roadmap to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with a sustainable economy that leaves no one behind. It might be best to avoid the subject of agriculture altogether. New data proves you can support capitalism or the environment—but it’s hard to do both. For many years, Le Quéré was the lead author of the Global Carbon Budget, a report by a group of scientists that looks at the latest state of research on the carbon budget and sources of emissions. Learn more about editorial content presented by outside advertisers. The cornerstone of the Green Deal is the EU Climate Law which will enshrine the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050. The Green Deal is no longer the hazy aspiration of a few climate action enthusiasts; it is a detailed mainstream policy document affecting every sector in one of the richest, most sophisticated economies in the world. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on French politics. But she’s used climate as a bargaining chip to win over left-leaning groups, and has made the Green Deal the centerpiece of her presidency. Greta Thunberg Calls Out EU Green Deal Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addresses the environment committee at the European Parliament in Brussels as they unveil their Green Deal. Not doing that could thwart the goals of the European Green Deal. InvestEU: Sounds like the subject line of an email from a wayward royal telling you there are millions of dollars unclaimed in a Western Union account and he can help you get it out — all he needs is a small cash advance or a bank account number to complete the wire transfer! After all, the EU accounts for only 10 percent of global emissions—and any gains made there would be more than wiped out elsewhere. The idea of a Green New Deal has been kicking around US politics since at least 2006. In March 2020, the Commission proposed the EU Climate Law, to make the Green Deal’s target for a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050 legally binding. These will make it cheaper for other geographies, including emerging markets, to decarbonize. Beyond 2030, the additional investments are 1 percent to 2 percent of GDP, about €4.6 trillion between 2031 and 2050. Poorer Central European countries will say that the transition is more expensive or disruptive for them. Recent history shows how impactful such investment can be: The final cost of solar photovoltaic installations has declined by over 70 percent since 2010. The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — its largest subsidy program — and the Green Deal have some big issues to resolve if they are to work in alignment. Thunberg, Greta: Youth climate strikers, including their figurehead Thunberg, have emerged as a major political force in the climate fight, especially in Europe. Had Corinne Le Quéré been a bit more organized as a teenager, it’s likely she never would have become one of the most influential voices in the fight against climate change. In Europe, the letter concludes, this request is now incorporated into a new political-economic proposal, the Green New Deal for Europe, which makes it a cornerstone of its climate justice program. Some word about the EU Green Deal. The political fight over the climate targets is about to enter a new phase. Greenpeace EU spokesperson Franziska Achterberg said: “Ursula von der Leyen is promising the European Green Deal will tackle the runaway climate crisis and the massive destruction of nature. Those 24 pages lay out a radical project to make the EU climate neutral by 2050 — that means the world’s second-largest economy will stop adding to the earth’s stock of greenhouse gases by then. Just Transition Mechanism:A pot of cash to help deal with the economic fallout from the transition to a cleaner Europe. The CAP is built on principles, such as maximizing productivity, which may conflict with green goals to use more land for burying carbon. The European Green Deal is at the heart of European efforts to achieve sustainability. The European Green Deal is a document so thin you could print it out and not feel like you would be in breach of an EU forestry directive. Each year the analysis makes headlines around the world. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on German politics. France has seen four environment ministers since the current government took office three years ago, and London has kept up a similar pace of rotation. Getting richer does not have to mean polluting more. T he EU Green Deal is one of the most ambitious priorities of the new European Commission (EC). The second way in which the Green Deal could succeed is by lowering the costs of the energy transition for everyone. A recent guest on POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast. Once elected, he canvassed and experimented widely and brought in surprising thinkers and ideas. But it will inspire a legislative firestorm. EU leaders are aiming to agree major details in December, with the law to be finalized in 2021. “If you’re looking at a household in 2050, you have a completely transformed set of ways that you cook, heat your home, interact with other human beings, move around and the jobs you do.”. But in a world in which emerging markets keep increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the United States is pulling out of the Paris agreement on climate change, one may well ask: What’s the point? Under a European Council proposal, Germany, with its large coal industry, was slated to receive the second-largest share of the pie, despite being one of the bloc’s wealthiest countries. That will enshrine the goal to reach net zero emissions in 2050 into law, plus a host of measures to achieve it. POLITICO’s got you covered. Latest news, analysis and comment on security in Europe and beyond. Campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K. What’s driving the day in Paris, en français, The weekly digest of the best stories in U.K. politics, SPONSORED CONTENT FROM COCA-COLA IN EUROPE. The . Climate Law:The legislation meant to make the bloc’s 2050 goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero legally binding. destructive as fossil fuels. EIB public sector loan facility: One of the three parts (or pillars, if you prefer) of the Just Transition Mechanism (see below). Contrast this with the Green New Deal proposed by U.S. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey this year, which envisaged the complete decarbonization of the U.S. economy within 10 years. Although that will likely be one of the most contentious aspects of the Green Deal, it is hard to imagine how else the EU could combat carbon leakage, where products that fall foul of environmental regulations if produced in the EU are simply imported from elsewhere, creating the same carbon emissions with none of the economic benefits. The EU’s Green Deal will come with substantial costs—which is why Poland, a member state, has yet to sign up to it. The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050. Read more. Why hydrogen is no magic solution for EU Green Deal. Getting to net zero emissions by 2050 will require massive changes in nearly all aspects of our lives. Latest news, analysis and comment on elections in Europe and beyond. Kritik am "New Green Deal" 4. “When I had enough, when I am stressed, when I am depressed, I look at my model, I go back to the basics, I look at my carbon sink in the ocean … to me this is my anchor.”. Parliament wants the Green Deal to be at the core of the EU’s Covid-19 recovery package. That’s causing anxiety in coal-dependent economies like Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, as well as in capitals around Europe, which will need to start addressing emissions in tough places like their building stock, trucks fleets and steel plants. Next year, instead of arguing over whether the EU should cut emissions by 55 percent, countries will fight over who must shoulder the most burden. The Commission’s Green Deal also includes elements of European policy that are unlikely to be welcomed in some member states: it wants to tap into its own revenue streams for climate protection and questions the principle of unanimity where taxation is concerned. The decline was doubtless helped by the early, heavily subsidized installations in Europe, which in 2012 accounted for 70 percent of total solar installed capacity. Can the EU’s call to climate action actually have an impact? Log in to access content and manage your profile. Fear not! As Europe increases its climate ambitions, “we expect the rest of the world to play its role too,” an EU official explained. But the Biden administration still faces an unreliable ally in Duterte. On protecting nature, much is aspirational and needs to be fleshed out. “There is a real imbalance between what the science community produces and how fast the policymakers are moving,” she said about the motivation behind starting the publication in 2004. The failure of the Kyoto Protocol and the intended U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement amply demonstrate that decarbonization cannot rely on multilateralism alone. Where to start? In foreign-policy terms, too, a unilateral approach will increase the risk of confrontation with traditional allies and trading partners that do not share its ambition on climate action. Social Sharing. But that slim size conceals a big punch. “The share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is projected to grow from the current less than 2% to 13-14% by 2050,” according to a draft Commission strategy. Providing communities that are built on carbon-spewing industries with meaningful, dignified alternatives is one of the toughest — and most expensive — challenges the deal will face. So when he says there needs to be a “just transition, or there will just be no transition” (and he will), it’s because it’s close to his heart. Beyond that, expect the coming year to see a flurry of new regulations, plans and changes to EU law: strategies for agriculture, hydrogen, building renovation, offshore wind energy, methane pollution, sustainable investment, the circular economy and a litany of others are all working their way through the Brussels bureaucracy. Current climate policy approaches are ill-suited for these regimes. According to the Commission, it will focus on “the regions, industries and workers who will face the greatest challenges.” Rejected names believed to have included “Money for Polish Coal Miners Mechanism” and “(Not) Just (Any Old) Transition Mechanism.”, Paris Agreement: Global climate pact that has its eyes firmly fixed on mid-century, when experts say humans need to all but eliminate greenhouse-gas emissions to avoid the worst effects of global warming. The distribution of the €17.5 billion Just Transition Fund will also be deeply contested. The European Parliament has called for the entire fund to be boosted to at least €25 billion. It’s a push for sustainable consumption and keeping resources “in the EU economy for as long as possible.” Quiet at the back, single-use plastics industry! That effort to use science to nudge policymakers also underpins Le Quéré’s work in France and the U.K. “It’s actually an essential role to have an independent advisory body like [the ones she sits on], because governments come and go … ministers in particular, there is a very, very rapid rotation,” Le Quéré said. Not to be confused with Hans Brusselmans. boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy; restore biodiversity and cut pollution ; The plan outlines investments needed and financing tools available. During the coronavirus pandemic economic activity slowed, causing a reduction in carbon emissions but leaving the EU facing recession. At the heart of the Green Deal was the rule that savings on bills would exceed the cost of the work. Timmermans, Frans: The Commission’s main man on the Green Deal. Used the subsequent press conference to call the EU Climate law a “surrender.” Mic drop! It explains how to ensure a just and inclusive transition. It combines climate change mitigation, environmental protection and biodiversity conservation with social justice and economic growth. That’s a huge success for the scientists, lobbyists and campaigners who have waged a decades-long battle to make global warming a central concern — something helped by Australian, Siberian, Brazilian, Portuguese and Californian wildfires, melting icecaps, summer heatwaves, ferocious storms, coastal floods and steadily climbing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. “We had, on the one hand, protecting our health and on the other, protecting our economy. The EU aims to be climate neutral in 2050. Thirty percent of global emissions come from countries led by populist nationalist leaders. It is a package of measures that aims to radically cut emissions of greenhouse gases while creating jobs in clean industries. In-depth reporting, data and actionable intelligence for policy professionals – all in one place. Campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the EU. Le Quéré, 54, wanted to be a sports teacher but missed the application deadline by a day … and ended up studying physics and oceanography in her native Canada. Greenhouse gas emissions by sector in EU countries plus the U.K. in 2016, in millions of tons of CO2-equivalent: The Green Deal is, in the European Commission’s ponderous vernacular: “a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.”. Horizon Europe, in synergy with other EU programmes, will be key to leveraging national public and private investment. That’s about half a percentage point of the EU’s GDP. This year, the group’s research showed the (limited) impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cutting global emissions. If it succeeds, the benefits will spread far beyond the borders of Europe. It’s a 30-year project. I can only do so much policy,” she said. The Green Deal isn’t a law. Also, was once lifted out of a bin by the actor Hugh Jackman. Sounds lovely, but it comes with a lot of terminology and buzzwords. “We thought having something that comes on an annual basis with the COP meeting when policymakers meet would be much more useful.”.