Can the EU be a climate leader and boost its economic competitiveness?
A recent proposal by the European Commission to set an emission reduction target of 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 level is being criticised by European lawmakers, member states and environmentalists alike.
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02:27The European Commission is for the first time considering allowing government to participate in the international carbon market
02:33to offset some of their pollution. But what exactly is being proposed?
02:37So basically, an EU member state could pay a third country outside the EU to reduce its greenhouse emissions.
02:45And this effort will be included in the minus 90% in the EU.
02:51NGOs are saying it is nonsense because it runs against scientific opinion.
02:55To address this criticism, the Commission is proposing a limited contribution of 3%.
03:01The European Commission is also suggesting that member states could be allowed to use other form of flexibilities to meet their climate obligations.
03:10But this has also been criticised by environmentalists. Can you explain why?
03:14One is the carbon removal. It could be nature-based or industrial technologies.
03:19And on this point, NGOs are saying that these industrial technologies removers are not developed enough to be scaled up.
03:28The other flexibility, in a nutshell, is that flexibility between sectors, so sectors ahead on their reductions, could compensate those lagging behind.
03:36To what extent is this decision on the 2040 target linked to the proposals that the EU will have to make at the next UN Climate Summit in November in Brazil,
03:45and for the bloc to retain its position as a global leader in this area?
03:50So the EU, as all the parties to the Paris Agreement, have to submit to the UN their updated NDC, Nationally Determined Contribution.
04:00These new NDCs will cover horizon 2035. So if the EU wants to send a clear signal to its international partners that it is committed to multilateralism regarding climate,
04:15it has to come up with a strong 2040 target.
04:1985% of Europeans said tackling climate change should be an EU priority, according to a survey released by Eurobarometer in June.
04:2781% of those surveyed by the Statistics Agency support the EU-wide goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.
04:3675% believe that reducing fossil fuel imports will increase energy security.
04:41To accelerate the process, the Commission proposes tax incentives to encourage investments in clean technologies
04:47and more public investment in expanding renewable energy sources.
04:52Our guest is Austrian MEP Lene Schillings from The Greens Group.
04:55Thank you very much for joining us.
04:57Thank you for the invitation.
04:59There are now increasingly more climate change skeptics in power, notably in the US,
05:04but of course Europe also has its own climate change skeptics.
05:08So can the EU maintain its commitment to comply with the Paris Agreement to curb global warming?
05:13It is very hard.
05:14I would say in this European Parliament, almost one third of this parliament are people that deny the climate crisis
05:21or say it's not important or whatever.
05:24So, yes, the majorities have changed with the US and Trump saying, drill, baby, drill.
05:30We have a real problem.
05:32A recent bid by the Greens, the Socialists and the Liberals to fast track the review of the climate law through parliament
05:39was blocked by mostly right-wing parties.
05:42Do you think that there is a risk that the negotiations will be bogged down and diluted?
05:48So, yes, the far right blocked it together with the EPP.
05:52I want to say a very clear at this point.
05:55And now we, together with the Social Democrats and the Liberals, need to get EPP on board.
06:00And that's what we are trying to do, to work together constructively and do another report,
06:06other amendments, a whole other story, because we need this climate target.
06:11And it's clear, with climate denier far right, it's impossible to get it.
06:15Some leaders, notably France's Emmanuel Macron, have already said that they oppose, for the moment,
06:21talks over 2040 targets.
06:23Can you tell us a bit more about this?
06:25What Macron is doing here and saying he wants to delay it or whatever,
06:29that really messes with the next COP negotiations.
06:32And we are always saying we can't solve the climate crisis alone in Europe.
06:37We need China.
06:38We need the US.
06:39We need other countries.
06:41We need India.
06:41So, yes, we need the Council.
06:43Yes, we need the parliament.
06:44And in both institutions, it's hell of a battle.
06:47The EU's upcoming multi-annual budget for 2028 to 2034 focuses on new priorities,
06:54namely economic competitiveness and security and defence.
06:58Do you think that funding for the climate transition will be enough
07:01to meet the bloc's climate targets?
07:03I have severe doubts.
07:05I think there are a few problems with this MFF.
07:09The first one is really so much is unclear.
07:13There are a lot of things we need.
07:14We need money for this clean industrial deal.
07:17We need money for biodiversity, as I said.
07:20We need money for civil society.
07:22But we also need to stop subsidizing and funding climate-harming projects or subsidies.
07:33Some say there will be no economy without the planet.
07:37On the day he presented his legislative proposal,
07:40the European Commissioner for Climate Change cited the example of Slovenia,
07:44which lost 11% of its GDP after devastating floods in 2023.
07:48Let's see if climate policy remains a priority in a time of economic, security and geopolitical turmoil.
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