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In recent years, global warming has been worsening and negatively affecting nature as well as people. Even with the actions of environmentalists like Greta Thunberg, the need to protect and restore our planet increases every day. In 2020, the European Environment Agency assessed that the state of nature in the European Union (EU) is in severe decline. Notably, only 15% of EU habitats are in good condition, and 50% of areas with pollinator-dependent crops do not provide suitable conditions for pollinators. Due to the worsening of the situation, in December 2019, just after becoming the new president of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen made a speech where she introduced the European Green New Deal (GND): a package of policy initiatives to bring the European Union and its 27 countries on a green path, reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Leyen explained, “Our goal is to reconcile the economy with our planet, to reconcile the way we produce and the way we consume with our planet and to make it work for our people.” Without being a simple, general, and hopeful statement, the GND has specific areas it aims to improve, including energy, climate, the environment, industry, transport, agriculture, and sustainable finance, each with its specific goals to obtain the final objective together with a holistic approach. One of the packages included in the Green New Deal is Fit for 55. Fit for 55 aims to reduce EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Through a set of proposals to revise and update EU legislation, this package will guarantee an equitable and socially fair shift, enhance the innovation and competitiveness of the European Union's industry, and reinforce the European Union's role as a leader in the worldwide effort to combat climate change. Included in Fit for 55 are reforms for the EU emissions trading system, one of the world's largest carbon markets, more ambitious, and a fund, the Social Climate Fund, to support the most affected businesses and citizens. Another key action of the GND is Farm to Fork, a strategy intended to shift the current EU food system towards a sustainable model. The decision for agriculture to be one of the focuses of the New Deal is due to the sector’s substantial impact on the environment. According to Monica Crippa, a scientist at the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, a third of the world's greenhouse gas emissions comes from food systems. This strategy includes the Organic Action Plan, which has the goal of increasing and advancing organic production to reach 25% of the EU's agricultural land use by 2030. Furthermore, Farm to Fork also includes a Food Security Plan, a contingency plan to ensure food security in Europe during crises. The Green New Deal also takes into account the fact that reaching climate neutrality by 2050 will pose greater challenges for certain member states, such as regions with a carbon intensive industry or reliant on fossil fuels, compared to others. To acknowledge this, the EU has introduced a Just Transition Mechanism to provide regions most impacted by the shift towards a low-carbon economy with financial and technical support. Over the period 2021-2027, the Just Transition Mechanism has the ambition to mobilize €100 billion to enhance job prospects and skill development, advance energy-efficient housing, address energy poverty, as well as many other initiatives. However, not every country agrees with the New Deal. In her speech, Leyen said, “This transition will either be working for all and be just, or it will not work at all,” yet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the Green New Deal as a “utopian fantasy.” There is still a distrust of EU policies and narratives of change and progress in the Eastern European region, partially due to negative experiences with transition periods. Orban even blamed green measures for pushing up energy costs in Europe. The various differences and divisions in the EU aren’t the only thing posing a challenge for the GND, the extremely high costs to put the New Deal in action also obstacle the deal. According to researchers, transitioning from coal, nuclear, and natural gas to 100% renewable energy sources would require over $5 trillion. The Green New Deal would also significantly empower the federal government’s influence over various aspects of energy production, consumption, agriculture, housing construction, transportation, and manufacturing. It would also result in negative impacts on the environment rather than positive ones: to create more renewable technologies, companies still have to mine the materials, manufacture the product and deal with the waste streams. Even though the Green New Deal faces several obstacles, it provides a clear structure and action plan to tackle the climate crisis in the various areas it affects. It recognizes that fossil fuel-reliant regions will encounter more struggles than Western member states and that to fight the environmental emergency it is necessary to also confront economic and social inequality. The GND also offers hope to many people, especially with the increase in worry towards global warming. The underlying question surrounding this entire package of policy initiatives is, Will it work? Throughout time many goals and objectives have been presented, and not many achieved due to inadequate enforcement of environmental regulations, characterized by insufficient coordination among government departments, limited institutional capability, restricted access to information, and other reasons. It is important to support the GND in creating a fair and rigorous society that it aims to be, our planet is suffering and we must save it. Bibliography
Apaydin, Daniela. “Why for Some Parts of the EU, the Green Deal Is a No Deal.” Fair Observer, October 24, 2023. https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/daniela-apaydin-eu-green-new-deal-climate-policy-divisions-17600/. Crippa, M., E. Solazzo, D. Guizzardi, F. Monforti-Ferrario, F. N. Tubiello, and A. Leip. “Food Systems Are Responsible for a Third of Global Anthropogenic GHG Emissions.” Nature Food 2, no. 3 (March 8, 2021): 198–209. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9. European Council. “European Green Deal.” Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/. Loris, Nicolas. “It’s Not Just About Cost. The Green New Deal Is Bad Environmental Policy, Too.” The Heritage Foundation. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.heritage.org/environment/commentary/its-not-just-about-cost-the-green-new-deal-bad-environmental-policy-too. European Commission - European Commission. “Press Corner.” Accessed October 30, 2023. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fr/speech_19_6749. Programme, United Nations Environment. “Dramatic Growth in Laws to Protect Environment, but Widespread Failure to Enforce, Finds Report.” UN Environment. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/dramatic-growth-laws-protect-environment-widespread-failure-enforce.
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