ENVI

“There is No Planet B: With the devastating impacts of climate change becoming increasingly visible, the EU faces the challenge of reducing carbon emissions and transitioning towards sustainable energy sources. With the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, how can the EU accelerate the adoption of green technologies and encourage global cooperation to combat…

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI)

By Jasmīna Bundule (LV)

“There is No Planet B: With the devastating impacts of climate change becoming increasingly visible, the EU faces the challenge of reducing carbon emissions and transitioning towards sustainable energy sources. With the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, how can the EU accelerate the adoption of green technologies and encourage global cooperation to combat climate change?”

Executive Summary

The EU is committed to the task of increasing the use of sustainable energy in order to combat climate change, while ensuring their safety and affordability. The efforts to tackle climate change are important to the preservation of the environment as well as to the improvement of human life and health. There are multiple courses of action presently being taken by the EU in order to reach its main goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Currently, the European Green Deal and the Renewable Energy Directive are the main avenues through which the EU is aiming to meet this target. States must ensure that the approach to tackling climate change is inclusive to different communities regardless of income, lifestyle or any other factors, since climate change disproportionately affects the more disadvantaged members of the society. The current issues raised by different people in Member States reflect this risk as many are worried about the future of jobs and prices with the push towards greener industries. 

Introduction and Relevance of the Topic

In 2019, the United Nations (UN) stated that we have a little over a decade left to prevent irreversible damage caused by climate change. Therefore, we must take action now. The only question that remains is: How can we stop the damage with the resources we have available? The international community and organisations such as the UN, the World Economic Forum and the EU have been taking an institutional approach and working towards combating climate change through diplomatic tools such as pacts, agreements, deals, among others, yet states do not seem to be committed enough beyond promises. The 2015 Paris Agreement 1is likely the most well-known of such climate change agreements, yet it has encountered some issues regarding compliance2 and target achievements. Nevertheless, its main goals were the basis for the European Green Deal, which includes the framework for most of the European industries for tackling climate change.The EU has since placed heavy emphasis on reducing carbon emissions mainly with the use of the EU Green Deal, but it has been met with a lot of backlash from several industries

such as the mining sector or the fossil fuel industry, raising  questions about feasibility. Furthermore, there are also increasing numbers of unhappy industries which are negatively affected by policies and reforms that focus on reducing CO2 emissions. For example, the widespread farmers protests in Belgium, the Netherlands, or Germany were partially responding to the policies that aim to reduce emissions of harmful gases. The EU this finds itself in a challenge of likewise recognising the urgency of the climate crisis and act appropriately to tackle the rise of temperatures, while also taking into account industries such as the farming sector and ensuring their needs are met without compromising the environment. 

Figure 1: Satire illustrating the problems state governments refer to when asked why not more is being done about climate change (Source: X; Memes Against Climate Change)

Fundamental Challenges

Setting targets

One of the most prevalent problems has been inadequate target setting in regards to the tackling of the climate crisis. While some argue that there is a pressing need to set higher targets that will improve emissions and other climate related issues, others argue that the targets that were previously set and were somewhat less ambitious have not been met either way. The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has concluded that the EU is currently insufficient in its reduction of emissions, where the main issue is the continued reliance on carbon capture and storage that makes use of fossil fuels. The current goal of 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 90% reduction by 2040 compared to 1990, as laid out in the EU Green Deal, is one of the lowest within the range of 90-95%, as recommended by the Commission. In addition, the EU has failed to remain compliant to the National Determined Contributions (NDC) which ensures that states report on their progress to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC3). This places into question the commitment of the EU towards the most crucial climate ambitions.

Climate justice

“The richest 10% of the population account for over half of global emissions” but are affected least by the consequences of climate change. The concept of climate justice refers to the inequalities around the effects of climate change and the effects of measures in order to reduce emissions. Climate justice places highest importance on those most at risk from climate inaction and argues for global warming solutions that also address injustice and inequality. The climate justice movement was pioneered and is currently led by the poorer and indigenous societies and social groups in the US and the Global South. Currently, the climate justice movement includes activists campaigning for industries and governments to recognise climate change as a social, economic and ethical issue. The EU has recognised climate justice as an issue and the European Economic and Social Council (EESC) has created a climate justice initiative which is the first step towards potential future action from the EU. Within this initiative the EESC calls for the EU Commission to draft a EU Bill of Climate Rights to state the rights of EU citizens in the light of the effects of climate change.

Conflict between industries 

While the tech industry is working in close cooperation with the EU to bring forth new developments that will reduce CO2 emissions, other industries are much more unhappy with the impact of attempting to mitigate climate change. The farming industry is the exemplar case of such problems, however, since farming is an industry where frequent unrest has been the norm since the Russian war on Ukraine and the Member States being heavily reliant on the farmers, the EU has made very few steps towards reducing CO2 emissions in the farming industry. This, however, is rather problematic since the farming industry is responsible for about 11% of all the greenhouse gases produced by the EU, while the OECD recommended number is 10%. Failure to enforce any legal climate-related requirements for the farming industry in the near future, is likely to affect the overall progress of the EU towards its climate goals. 

Key Stakeholders

  • European Commission: The EU body responsible for proposing all policy and legislation, as well as ensuring the overall progress of the EU. The Commission proposed and created the EU Green Deal, as well as the Renewable Energy Directive and the REPowerEU plan.
  • DG CLIMA: The specific Directorate-General which leads the Commission in its work towards tackling climate change.
  • UNFCCC: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change represents 198 countries. The UNFCCC secretariat ensures that climate action is taken by all member states and it is the organisation that oversaw the process of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
  • Member States: All EU Member States have a duty to follow and abide by the goals set in the EU Green Deal due to its legally binding properties. Member States are also sometimes responsible for enforcing certain EU policies nationally, due to differences in secondary law such as, directives or recommendations.
  • European Environment Agency (EEA): Provides scientific information and assessments to support EU environmental policies, including those related to climate change.
  • European Economic and Social Council (EESC): Ensures that EU policies and legislation is in line with economic, social and civic circumstances by assisting the main EU bodies.
  • Businesses and Industry Associations: Various industries and business groups have interests in climate policies due to their potential impact on business operations and competitiveness.
  • Environmental NGOs: Non-governmental organisations advocating for environmental protection and climate action, often involved in policy advocacy and monitoring.
  • Citizens and Civil Society: Public engagement and activism play a crucial role in shaping climate policies, through advocacy, protests, and public awareness campaigns.
  • International Partners and Organisations: Collaboration with other countries and international organisations is essential for addressing global climate challenges, including through agreements like the Paris Agreement.

Measures in Place

The EU Green Deal, as proposed by the European Commission, has an overarching role in ensuring that Member States meet the targets that have been set to tackle climate change. The EU Green Deal includes legally binding targets that cover all key aspects of human life: Transport, health, industry etc. Solar and wind power have been deployed in increasing numbers when supplying electricity, as required by the EU Green Deal, leading to a price fall. As a result solar power has become more affordable for many people however, there are still some challenges regarding the household use of wind power. The Green Deal will also affect the manner in which goods are produced and consumed, helping to also address wider issues that concern the industries, such as costs and distribution of goods. 

The REPowerEU plan is aimed at tackling the economic challenges that shifting towards renewable energy may pose. The plan was devised and launched in 2022, as a response to the Russian war on Ukraine, which caused heavy industrial and economic disruptions. The plan is comprehensive as it works from the very root of the problem, which concerns the need to diversify the overall energy supply, to the final goal – the full switch to renewable energy. Most crucially, it discusses the economic impact and future plan for financial distributions, which has been one of the most pressing questions in the ongoing debate about switching to renewable energy.

The Renewable Energy Directive is the legal framework that develops strategies for providing clean energy to all sectors of the EU, while also promoting support and cooperation between the EU Member States in achieving its goals. The directive has existed since 2009 and has been revised multiple times since its creation, with the latest edition following the REPowerEU plan. The key figure of the revised directive proposes an overall renewable energy target of 42.5% binding at EU level by 2030, while aiming at 45%. 

EU Emission Trading System (ETS) is known as the cap and trade system which intends to require polluters to pay for the excess greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the overall emission rates and pave the way for financing the steps within the EU Green Deal.

Historical context 

Climate change is a global problem and calls by nature for international cooperation. Such an institutionalised process has not only been slow, but has also been seen to fail repeatedly. The following timeline of climate conferences and agreements provides historical context to the matter:

1990: The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its first climate assessment report, starting the global debate about greenhouse gas emissions and on international treaties regarding climate change. 

1995: The first meeting of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 1) takes place in Berlin, Germany. 

1997: After two years of formal negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol is agreed upon at COP 3 in Kyoto, Japan.

2005: Kyoto Protocol enters into force.

2009: No agreement is reached on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol at COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

2015: A successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol is reached at COP 21 in Paris, France. It is known as the Paris Agreement.

2020: Paris Agreement takes legal effect.

However, while climate negotions often appear inneffective, the case of reducing the “hole in the ozone layer” for which the international community was relatively quick to react in the early 1980s exemplifies the importance and potential of such international cooperation. Thus, understanding the past of climate change negotiations is a helpful tool to assist us in evaluating the progress that has been made and that needs to be made in the near future. 

Outlook

Climate change has become a topic of high importance over the last years, it has made front-page news and the words “save the planet” can be spotted almost everywhere. It can appear that with the action protest groups are taking and the plans governments are proposing, the rest of society can take a step back and continue doing smaller actions such as recycling. While it is true that in large part it is in the hands of the industries and corporations to change their policies in order for any of the climate goals to be achieved, individuals can also participate beyond the small acts of change. The EU is built on democratic values, therefore the voice of the people should be the most important. We must remember that with enough voices from joining movements, parties and groups it is possible to act and work against the ticking clock of climate change, it is simply about the willingness and stance we choose to take. So think about what the future looks like. What do you see 50 years down the line? How can we ensure that climate change action does not increasingly disadvantage those who are already at a disadvantage? Is it possible to convince the farming industry to adapt to the efforts to save our planet at all? What additional steps could the EU do to achieve its own climate goals?

Links for Further Research

“The European Union’s Green Deal, Explained.” A comprehensive explanatory video about the ambitious EU plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gShVdPOp1D4

  1.  Adopted in 2015, the Paris agreement is an international treaty of legally binding nature. It aims to keep the increase of the global average temperature significantly below levels equivalent to two degrees celsius over pre-industrial levels. ↩︎
  2.  The act of obeying rules that control industry sectors. ↩︎
  3. The UNFCCC secretariat is a UN institution tasked with managing the global response to the threats of climate change ↩︎