Climate change: Green Deal / Pacte Vert

In December 2019 the European Commission published the European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640). This Green Deal sets out an ambitious policy framework for sustainable development and climate action and seeks to make Europe climate neutral, sustainable and pollution free. The Green Deal also paves the way for a European Climate Pact, designed to engage the public and all stakeholders on climate issues, with particular emphasis on Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs). In response to the new Green Deal and the Climate Pact, the European Committee of Regions (CoR) has launched a study to investigate what LRAs need to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal and climate neutrality.

Climate change policy cannot be the first priority of the EU for the immediate future. However, in spite of the corona-crisis the urgency of climate change mitigation has not disappeared. The post-corona recovery can both put the EU’s decarbonisation progress back on track – after low-carbon investments will inevitably take a hit – but the EU’s Green Deal proposals can likewise support the general economic recovery.

European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has made climate
change a top priority, promising to propose a European Green Deal that would make Europe climate neutral by 2050. Th e European Green Deal should be conceived as a reallocation mechanism, fostering investment shifts and labour substitution in key economic sectors,
while supporting the most vulnerable segments of society throughout the decarbonisation process. Th e deal’s four pillars would be carbon pricing, sustainable investment, industrial policy and a just transition.

A Green Deal for Europe can set standards for ambitious climate protection, for an investment programme in future markets and for strengthening the European economy and European and non-European security. Climate protection and a sustainable energy transition not only create economic opportunities but also reduce geopolitical disputes, thus securing peace within and outside Europe. In order to meet the emission reduction targets of the Paris climate agreement and the EU deal, the share of renewable energy sources would have to increase significantly faster.

Industry, and in particular the energy-intensive extraction and production of basic materials such as chemicals, cement, steel, non-ferrous metals, ceramics, and so on, is responsible for approximately 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If EU industry makes a successful low-carbon transition, it can be a model for other regions proving that there are numerous pathways which can help reconcile a climate-neutral society with the large consumption of materials.

This paper examines the implications of the COVID-19 crisis on the 2030 EU CO2 emissions target, considering a range of economic growth scenarios. With lower economic activity resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, we find that existing climate policy measures could overshoot the current 40% EU target in 2030. If policymakers consequently relax climate policy measures to maintain the 2030 target, the opportunity will be missed to align EU climate policy with longer-term Paris emissions mitigation goals.

L’Union européenne a profité de la COP25 pour dévoiler son initiative phare : le Green Deal. Au travers de ce dernier, l’Union européenne souhaite se présenter en tant que leader climatique, notamment après le désengagement américain de l’Accord de Paris. L’annonce le 1er juin 2017 du retrait des États-Unis par le Président Trump a créé un déficit de leadership climatique. À la lumière de ce désengagement, allons-nous retrouver un leadership climatique européen tel que celui qui sauva l’accord de Kyoto ?
Cette note d’analyse examine les enjeux et les opportunités de cette décision sur la diplomatie climatique de l’Union européenne.

La Commission européenne met en avant un Pacte Vert (Green Deal) destiné à structurer de manière très englobante son action pour les prochaines années. Ce Pacte a fait l’objet le 11 décembre 2019 d’une communication(1) de la Commission aux autres instances européennes. Le texte de la Commission est soumis à discussions et destiné à se traduire en actions dans le cadre des instances européennes mais aussi dans les États membres.

Période: 2019-2020

Les défis mondiaux auxquels nous sommes aujourd’hui confrontés, tels que le changement climatique, la perte de biodiversité sans précédent, et la propagation de pandémies dévastatrices, constituent un message clair: il est grand temps de rétablir le lien brisé de notre rapport avec la nature. Alors que le monde émerge à peine de la crise de la COVID-19, il est plus important que jamais de construire une société plus résiliente. Le cadre mondial en matière de biodiversité pour l’après-2020 jouera un rôle essentiel dans l’élaboration d’un avenir plus durable.