The EU is dragging its feet in the fight against climate change

BrusselsIt was long overdue that environmentalism managed to shape the European Union's agenda, with green parties steadily gaining ground, and almost all European leaders embracing the fight against climate change. Although it was only for show, it was fashionable and well-regarded. The tables have turned in recent years. The environmentalist backlash, led by a growing far right, has swept away leaders of the traditional right and center, and is managing to put spokes in the wheels of the green battle driven by Brussels, to the point that its international leadership in this field is beginning to be questioned.

This slowdown by the European bloc was evident at the EU Environment Council meeting this Thursday. Member states were to agree at the ministerial meeting on the climate goals they aim to achieve by 2035 and 2040 and present them to the UN meeting next week, but some countries have asked to postpone the decision and discuss it next month. The first president to request it wasn't a far-right leader, not even from the European People's Party (PP), but rather the Frenchman, Emmanuel Macron, who has emerged as one of the continent's most vocal opponents of the European green agenda.

The rest of the major EU member states—Germany, Italy, and Poland—followed suit. The only one that hasn't joined in and called for remaining at the forefront of the fight against climate change is Spain, especially after Donald Trump's United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement. "We must consolidate our leadership," Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition Sara Aagesen stressed to the press at Thursday's ministerial meeting in Brussels.

In this way, the European Union will miss the deadline set by the UN to all states that are part of the Paris Agreement. However, rather than come up empty-handed, EU environment ministers agreed this Thursday on a declaration of what their climate targets will approximately be. Finally, by 2035, member states will have to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by between 66.25% and 72.5% compared to 1990 levels, according to diplomatic sources told ARA.

This is a proposal put on the table by the Social Democratic government of Denmark, which holds the temporary presidency of the EU Council, and it is not binding. In other words, it is a dead letter. As Macron requested, the first and final say will be given to the EU heads of state and government at the summit they will hold next month. In any case, Brussels and the Member States remain committed to reaching a final agreement next month and building on the work done at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), which will be held in Brazil from November 10 to 21.

A divided EU

All the major member states of the European Union—with the exception of Spain—are calling for more flexibility in meeting the climate goals already set by the European bloc. However, the European Commission's proposal, which is the basis for what state governments are now negotiating, already undermines the obligations of individual countries and the EU as a whole to meet the objectives: 90% less greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, and neutrality by 2050.

The main novelty of the Brussels proposal is that Member States can partially externalize emissions reductions. Brussels intends to introduce what are known as international carbon credits, which will allow countries to account for the emissions reductions achieved by third countries—usually poorer economies—either by paying them a certain price per ton of CO₂ they reduce or by making green investments. This is a form of trading of emissions rights that is already included in the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.