The European Commission wants to make history with the Green Deal, but climate policy is currently lagging behind. The decisive negotiations will start in the autumn.
While last year’s floods made the catastrophic consequences of climate change visible, this year mainly forest fires were raging, droughts spread and the water level in large lakes, such as Lake Neusiedler or Lake Garda in northern Italy, is threatening to fall. .
The EU committee around President Ursula von der Leyen wants to make history with the Green Deal, which states that the member states will become climate neutral by 2050. The targets are ambitious: as a first step, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. But given the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the acute energy crisis and rising prices, climate policy is no longer the big problem.
The goal is clear, but the road to get there is less clear
It is still unclear exactly what the laws that should put Europe on the right climate path will look like. The decisive negotiations will start in the autumn. A major hurdle has already been cleared: the end of combustion engines for passenger cars from 2035 has essentially been decided – but Europe would not be Europe if there were no incomprehensible exceptions. A cornerstone of the Green Deal, emissions trading, is likely to be crucial. The central question is whether the trade in CO2 certificates will be extended to transport and buildings, a proposal to that effect has already been rejected.
It also applies in other areas, for example when determining the share of sustainable aviation fuels or for plug-in hybrids and CO2-neutral fuels. Equally unsolved is the enormous problem of the waste mountain. By 2030, the EU aims to halve the amount of household waste that cannot be recycled. Although recycling rates are currently increasing, there is more manure at the same time.
Nuclear energy must get a green bow
For Austria, the new taxonomy regulation, which amounts to kneeling before the French nuclear lobby, is unacceptable. Because the European Union has actually designated nuclear energy as green and sustainable and therefore worthy of support. Austria is taking action against this.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
