Euronews - The Briefing : With the war raging, the European Green Deal finds itself at a crossroads

 

With the war raging, the European Green Deal finds itself at a crossroads By Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing a new definition of “security” upon Europe and the world. We are experiencing an energy crisis, a military defence crisis, a persistent post-covid crisis and a “Putinflation”-driven price crisis that is hurting the most vulnerable.   This is adding to a looming debt crisis, raising the cost of climate finance, just as most climate scientists give us just three years to slam the brakes on the climate crisis. European leaders are seized of this dangerous convergence of security threats, as is the G7. The EU’s response to date has shown its resolve on climate and, as it did during the height of the pandemic in Europe, continues to display impressive resilience in the face of turbulence.  As this callous war and the mesh of crises persist, the bloc has an opportunity to deepen its unity and establish itself as a security anchor – for itself, for the region and for the world. This is the central message that EU leaders must carry today and through to the COP27 in Egypt this November, highlighting the urgency of the renewables transition as a peace project. In carrying this message, the EU can also expose the fossil fuels legacy that brought us to this point. The resulting greenhouse gas emissions are certainly one facet of this threat, and so is the build-up of states and corporations who concentrate outsized power from their production and export, often in ways that help them evade accountability. The “net zero by 2050” vision enshrined by the Paris Agreement – and put into practice by the European Green Deal – is a blueprint to tackle the root failures of this system.  Russian state elites and oligarchs help to illustrate the convergence of crises. Russia’s war is both a brazen attack on a sovereign state in its perceived “sphere of influence” and, by extension, a clear gambit to destabilise Europe's deep decarbonisation goals, because they directly challenge Russia’s economic model. The EU’s response to the invasion so far is laudable and, in many ways, impressive, even if the geopolitics of fossil fuels leaves the bloc vulnerable to some dangerous contradictions. While the latest package of sanctions has made progress on oil, the incremental approach has continuously dodged the fundamental threats fossil fuels pose to all aspects of our security. In a perverse illustration of this, the design of the sanctions is currently allowing Russia to amass record current account surpluses, profiting from globally high commodity prices and a particularly tight market for oil and gas.  Russia is now in a position of strength: a well-resourced Russian war machine that can – and already has, in the case of the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland – cut off energy supplies to European countries on its own terms. This raises the fear of a difficult winter marked by even more volatile energy prices, ballooning inflation and hard consumer choices. “Ripping the band-aid” of our Russian oil and gas imports could put Europe in a different position by the winter. But while the EU is a leader in providing subsidies for renewable energies, it is far slower in reducing support for fossil fuels. On average, EU countries subsidise renewables to the tune of €73 billion versus a still-enormous €50 billion for fossil fuels. The global picture is even starker. The world currently faces an annual investment gap of $4.35 trillion to finance the green transition until 2030. Despite this, 70% of energy subsidies still go to fossil fuels, versus 20% for renewables. The EU remains a foremost climate leader by the seriousness of the European Green Deal and its position as the largest contributor of public climate finance. These mounting crises put our institutions under great strain, but they are also clarifying.  They reveal Europe’s singular responsibility to maintain its unity, and offer a rallying vision beyond its borders for the peaceful and safe world we want. A response anchored in security and solidarity.