https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/06/green-deal–ceo-initiative.html
The European Green Deal was presented in December 2019 as a effort to alleviate climate change. The ultimate end is climate neutrality by 2050.
According to Mark Leonard in his article “The Geopolitics of the European Green Deal“, the Green Deal is actually an international relations issue. To effectively make a dent in the global problem, a global solution is needed. Furthermore, he explains that the EU is aware that it won’t be able to curve climate change independently. Therefore, the European forces are working hard on actualizing multilateral deals with different continents. The change in the American presidency has imbued the EU with optimism toward potential multilateral alliances with the power on the other side of the Atlantic.
The European case
The European Commission proposed their ambitious European Green Deal in December 2019. Their efforts to curb climate change will reshape several European trade agreements. Major energy suppliers will lose their bargaining chips as their European client’s demand will decline. The EU is dependent on Russian natural gas. Moreover, 60% of Russian imports within the EU are related to energy. The gradual decrease in crude oil demand from Europe will inherently affect many actors who have been supplying Europe.
The EU does not have rich resources and must therefore import 87% of the oil and 74% of the natural gas they use. The EU is dependent on Russian natural gas. After many efforts at diversifying EU energy suppliers, countries such as Poland and the Baltics have gained importance as new providers. Moreover, the EU Green Deal’s goal of reducing the gas import between 2030 and 2050 could massively alter the political landscape. In other words, Russian Gas reliance will become a non-issue over time due to their diversification of provenance and their gradual decrease in demand.
Furthermore, the powerful neighbor of the EU, Russia, has not been historically concerned with the green movement. Their president, Vladimir Putin, is unfavorable to the science behind climate change and believes that his country already has the most environmentally friendly energy system. However, Russia keeps on falling short of the greener standards they have set out for themselves. For example, they failed to attain a reduction of 40% of fossil fuel emissions between 2007 to 2020. Moreover, Putin continues to claim that his country holds “the greenest energy system in the world” . (Leonard, “The Geopolitics of the European Green Deal”,https://www-jstor-org.lib-ezproxy.concordia.ca/stable/pdf/resrep29130.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A966cf9e52a61b4932ccb9ab8d14eaf88)
Green parties within the European Union are creating disincentives for countries producing more carbon. The Green parties within the EU are working on tripling carbon pricing. The aim behind this policy is to maximize the incentive to lower emissions of fossil fuels. Within the EU parliament, the Greens are pushing to attain 150 euros per ton of fossil fuel by 2030.
Moreover, the Green Deal has the potential to gain more steam in the EU as the German Greens’ likelihood of attaining political power has increased. (https://globalgreen.news/russia-and-china-at-the-core-of-the-german-greens-foreign-policy/) On the other hand, some European countries are still two, or three, steps behind. For example, Poland is taking 70% of its energy from coal and has actually increased its fossil fuel emissions during the past ten years. Moreover, many countries don’t qualify climate change as one of their priorities and therefore don’t value the Green Deal. Many central European countries are more focused on immigration. Furthermore, countries such as Poland and Hungary are strong opponents of the EU Green Deal.
Luka Ivan Jukic, journalist and data analyst on AL Jazeera, argues that the current situation leaves Baerbock, leader of German Greens, with the opportunity to convince her neighboring countries of the benefits of the Green movement. By focusing on the various economic opportunities, neighboring countries might see the upsides to joining with more vigor. Moreover, many central European countries will be favorable to the Green Deal if they were to receive funds to transform their industries into more modern and environmentally friendly infrastructures.
Luka Ivan Jukic told Aljazeera, “Central Europe will not turn Green overnight but come September, Germany might. What that will mean for Central Europe is new political divides, but also new opportunities. Ones that could lead not only to a greener Germany, but to a greener Europe. A greener Central Europe, at least.” (https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/5/12/what-a-green-german-chancellor-would-mean-for-central-europe)
The leader of the German Green party, Annalena Baerbock, conducted an interview with Fareed Zakaria from CNN discussing the Green Deal and surrounding issues. When asked what she believes the future relations with the new Biden administration will be, she states, with great optimism, that she sees a bright future of cooperation. More importantly, she believes in the possibility of a transatlantic Green deal. In an interview for the Atlantic council with Zakaria, Baerbock explains that with the Biden administration, there is now a realistic possibility for “investing really in a future of carbon neutrality together with a strong movement on social justice. And this is actually the same idea we are having on the other side of the Atlantic as a European Union with a green deal.” (https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/news/transcripts/annalena-baerbock-on-a-transatlantic-green-deal-and-german-strategies-in-facing-russia-and-china/) She then claims that this massive project does not only present the opportunity for cooperation between the US and the EU but it rather demands it.
Furthermore, she explains that the context of the pandemic has left democracies in need of displaying their strength, in the interview for the Atlantic Council, “it’s really crucial that democracies show, within the upcoming months, that we can not only fight a pandemic with democratic measures but also the biggest threat—like the climate crisis—as democracies.”
The leader of the German Green party, Annalena Baerbock, conducted an interview with Fareed Zakaria from CNN discussing the Green Deal and surrounding issues. When asked what she believes the future relations with the new Biden administration will be, she states, with great optimism, that she sees a bright future of cooperation. More importantly, she believes in the possibility of a transatlantic Green deal. In an interview for the Atlantic council with Zakaria, Baerbock explains that with the Biden administration, there is now a realistic possibility for “investing really in a future of carbon neutrality together with a strong movement on social justice. And this is actually the same idea we are having on the other side of the Atlantic as a European Union with a green deal.” (https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/news/transcripts/annalena-baerbock-on-a-transatlantic-green-deal-and-german-strategies-in-facing-russia-and-china/) She then claims that this massive project does not only present the opportunity for cooperation between the US and the EU but it rather demands it.
Thus, the EU is amongst the most likely to follow through on the Green Deal, and, could become a role model for other countries to follow.
The Green dDeal presents a set of solutions to address the global climate change issue. As discussed, different countries react differently to the consequences of greener policies. The EU must contend with countries such as Russia and CHina who are less cooperative and seem more adverse to the Green Deal.
Visit the following link for more information on the Green Deal in other countries such as the United States and China: https://globalgreen.news/green-deal-china-united-states/
For more information:
https://gpus.org/organizing-tools/the-green-new-deal/
http://: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/05/green-new-deal-climate-change
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/eu-carbon-rally-triggers-greens-call-for-curbs-on-speculation-1.1606299
http://: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/green-new-deal-whom/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12917
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/envisioning-green-new-deal-global-comparison
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