It’s published
•update
Focusing on this episode of EU decoding at the heart of the debate, it is whether the 27-country bloc can afford to maintain its leadership in climate policy while maintaining its economic power.
Through Climate Law, the EU has committed to becoming climate neutral by the mid-century, an intermediate target with 55% reductions in greenhouse emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2030.
The review also includes suggestions to enable EU countries to participate in the international carbon market to offset some of the pollution.
“Essentially, EU countries were able to pay to third countries other than the EU to reduce greenhouse emissions,” Euronows reporter Gregoire Lory told the programme. “The NGOs say this is nonsense because it goes against scientific views.”
It also allows for other forms of flexibility.
“One of which is carbon removal, which could be natural-based or industrial technology. And in this respect, NGOs say they’re not developed enough to expand the removal of these industrial technology,” Rory said. The other is “the intersector flexibility allows us to make up for what the sector is lagging behind ahead of that reduction.”
“We can’t just solve the climate crisis.”
However, attempts to quickly track the review through the European Parliament were rejected.
“The far right blocked it along with the EPP (center right group),” Greens Mep Lena Schilling (Austria) told Euronows. “Now we need to have the EPP on board, along with the Social Democrats and the Liberals, that’s what we’re trying to do.
However, it is not just the lawmakers who are divided. French President Emmanuel Macron called in June to delay its proposal, arguing that more time would be needed to reach a European compromise that would not hinder the bloc’s global competitiveness.
In the case of Schilling, Macron’s stance “really confuses” the next police negotiations to take place in Brazil in November.
“We’ve always said that Europe can’t solve just the climate crisis. We need China. We need the US. We need other countries. We need India. And at the same time, just before we try to bail out NDCS (National Decision Contribution), it’s just irresponsible and extremely dangerous,” she added.
But the fight against climate change appeared to have cut down the committee’s list of priorities. Last month, the proposal for a 2 trillion euro budget for the 2028-2034 period focused on competitiveness, security and defense.
Journalists: Alice Taidi and Isabel Marquez da Silva
Content Production: Pilar Montero López
Video production: Zacharia Vigneron
Graphism: Loredana Dumitru
Editorial Adjustments:
