Drastic Climate Measures Lead to a Hopeless End
The recent COP29 summit in Baku saw rich countries pledging an annual $300 billion to the global fight against climate change. However, the EU's progress in adopting ambitious green investments has been slow, hampered by political fragmentation and economic constraints embedded in its institutional framework.
Politically, the EU faces deep divisions among member states and political groups, delaying consensus on strong climate policies. Disagreements within the European Commission over environmental directives and the influence of conservative or nationalist parties have led to backtracking on some initiatives and slowed funding for renewables and green technologies.
Economically, the EU's fiscal architecture based on austerity and tight budget rules limits large-scale public investment. The bloc lacks a robust common budget for green transformation and is constrained by strict state-aid rules and a market competition obsession that hamper industrial policy and green reindustrialization.
Bureaucratic inertia and fragmented governance among European institutions and member states cause slow and inefficient implementation of green funding even when available. Germany's costly but mixed-results energy transition highlights the economic challenge, showing how massive investments have been offset by closures of zero-emission nuclear plants, which complicates net emissions reductions.
The EU's tendency to delay or relax regulatory frameworks to accommodate economic or political concerns signals a pullback from the initially ambitious green agenda. Externally, the EU's strict sustainability measures without broad consultation have also caused political and economic pushback internationally, further complicating the EU’s ability to lead decisively on climate actions.
The cost of reaching net-zero emissions in the coming years is estimated to be in the tens of trillions, according to different institutions such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Goldman Sachs, and the Climate Policy Initiative. The success of the EU's Green Deal depends on addressing these inequities and ensuring that the green transition tangibly benefits all Europeans, leaving no one behind.
The return of austerity is pushing climate action to the wings, with insufficient financial support for vulnerable communities and the far right exploiting economic hardship and resentment toward political elites. The EU's Recovery Fund, known as NextGenerationEU, was established in 2020, amounting to 800 billion euros in grants and loans to support member states, with a requirement for member states to spend around 40% of the recovery fund on climate measures.
However, the far right made sweeping gains in last year's European parliamentary elections, becoming a major force and a significant obstacle to climate policies. In Germany, the chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has promised to weaken green policy, claiming it has gone too far, and has expressed concern for the state of the economy, which he says was exacerbated by excessive environmentalism.
Without sufficient investments in green infrastructure, social protection programs, and adaptive strategies, working-class and rural communities are bearing the brunt of the economic costs without seeing the benefits of green policies. The EU will need to move away from the austerity model that enabled right-wing populism to surge in the first place, and start rebuilding and refunding welfare states to incorporate green policies.
The European Union, the world's fastest-warming continent and increasingly a site of extreme weather events, cannot afford to continue at this slow pace. The EU must rise to the challenge and accelerate its green investments, or risk being left behind in the global race to combat climate change.
Sources: 1. The Guardian 2. Euractiv 3. Reuters 4. Politico
- The EU's political divisions and economic constraints, as reported by The Guardian, Euractiv, Reuters, and Politico, have resulted in a slow progress in adopting ambitious green investments, hindering environmental-science initiatives and the fight against climate-change.
- The success of the EU's Green Deal, as estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Goldman Sachs, and the Climate Policy Initiative, depends on addressing economic inequities and ensuring that the green transition benefits all Europeans, particularly those in working-class and rural communities, according to sources like The Guardian, Euractiv, Reuters, and Politico.
