.svg)
European Green Deal or Green Pact for Europe: what's it all about? In this article, we take a look at this new climate policy: objectives, strategy and obstacles, we tell you all about it!
What are the main objectives of the European Green Pact?
To meet the challenge of ecological transition, the European Union is presenting the European Green Deal, a climate plan aimed at making the European economy modern, competitive and in tune with environmental issues. To achieve this, the green deal aims to be ambitious and socially just, with the following objectives:
- Become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 (with an intermediate target of a 55% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels).
- Ensure economic growth "decoupled from resource use".
- Ensuring an equitable transition by "leaving no one behind".
In order to encourage and oblige European structures (private and public) to evolve in this direction, the Green Deal establishes a binding legislative framework, the progressive deployment of which aims to achieve the objectives by 2050 through :
- updating certain regulations.
- the introduction of new measures, including the green taxonomy, the CSRD for extra-financial reporting, the CSDDD on duty of care and the SFDR aimed at developing sustainable finance.
- deployment of an investment plan drawing on both public and private funds
All economic sectors of the European market are covered by the pact, including transport, energy, agriculture, buildings and industries such as steel, cement, textiles and chemicals, as well as finance.
Green Deal dates
The Green Deal is intended to be historic for the European continent. It should enable the EU to make a concrete commitment to decarbonization and the preservation of ecosystems!
Here's a quick reminder of the key dates and what's to come.
Nevertheless, since the implementation of CSRD in 2025 and in anticipation of the future deployment of CS3D, many voices have been raised to denounce the excessive complexity of European green standards, particularly for SMEs. New Omnibus legislation is due to be discussed in 2025, with the aim of simplifying some of these standards to prevent their implementation from proving too costly for SMEs and SMIs, and harming their international competitiveness.
Why the European green deal?
To put the Green Deal in context, let's look back at the key dates of this European policy:
- 1997: COP3, the Kyoto Protocol is signed. Reduce emissions of six greenhouse gases by 5% between 2008 and 2012, compared with 1990 levelsEntry into force: 2005.
- 2015: COP21, the Paris Agreement is signed. To keep the rise in the planet's average temperature well below 2°C compared with the pre-industrial era, if possible at 1.5°C. It also aims to achieve net zero emissions on a global scale for the second half of the 19th century. Putting it into practice: every 5 years, each country must report on the measures it has put in place to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, with the obligation to present increasingly ambitious actions from one cycle to the next.
- 2019: Ursula von der Leyen is elected President of the European Commission by the European Parliament. Her commitments? To ensure a mandate focused on environmental transition. Putting it into practice: before the end of the year, in November 2019, the European Parliament declares a state of climate emergency.
Following on from these events, the European Commission is making the European Green Deal official in December 2019. This European pact, promised by Ursula von der Leyen during her campaign, unveils ambitious climate targets and a timetable. It aims to establish a binding legislative framework for Europe, with a view to complying with the Paris Agreements.
Who is financing the European Green Deal?
To finance this green transition, which covers all economic sectors, the EU plans to invest up to 1,000 billion euros. In order to mobilize such a budget, the European Union wants to build a financial framework that will facilitate both public (EU and member country budgets) and private investment in its Green Deal, using legislation and an attractive taxonomy for sustainable development projects. For the time being, the breakdown of Green Deal financing is as follows:
- EU budget: 503 billion euros,
- InvestEU Fund: 279 billion euros (fund launched in 2021 to stimulate investment in Europe) ,
- SEQE funds: 25 billion euros (European carbon market),
- Just Transition Fund: 100 billion euros (funds to support socio-economically vulnerable territories in the face of ecological transition),
- National co-financing: 114 billion euros.
Furthermore, in order to green European finance and bring new funds to the European transition, the EU presented an action plan in 2018 on the"European taxonomy". This will come into force in part in 2022 and in full in 2023.
This, along with the SFDR regulation, another pillar of the Green Deal, aims to steer investments towards low-carbon activities in line with the ecological transition.
What is the European Green Deal's growth strategy?
Europe's climate strategy cuts across all sectors. Here is a non-exhaustive summary of the measures in this green pact for Europe.
Industries: Industrial strategy for a clean and circular economy
"To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, preserve our natural environment and strengthen our economic competitiveness, our economy must be totally circular. Today, it is still essentially linear, with only 12% of secondary materials and resources being reintroduced into it." - Mr. Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President in charge of the Green Deal
In order to redirect itself towards a sustainable model, Europe is focusing on a circular economy, which translates into the implementation of the following actions:
- Make products more sustainable in the EU, and make this a standard: reparability (adding indices for consumers), reuse, recycling.
- Reducing waste:
- Recovering waste in the form of second-hand resources (e.g. in construction, battery manufacture, second-hand textiles, etc.),
- Eliminate single-use items, replace plastic with biodegradable materials.
Transport: Sustainable and intelligent mobility
Today, 25% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. In order to achieve the desired GHG emissions reduction trajectory, Europe has set itself the target of a 90% reduction in transport-related emissions.
By what means? By promoting rail travel, which alone is responsible for only 0.5% of greenhouse gas emissions linked to travel, with the aim of gradually replacing carbon-intensive modes of transport (airplanes, cars, road transport, etc.). This translates into the following ambitions:
- Abolition of pollution rights for airlines (rights currently allocated via the EU ETS, a system that will be gradually replaced by the MACF, the border carbon tax),
- End of sales of combustion-powered cars in 2035,
- Development of a central European rail transport network and network liberalization:
- Promote train travel for journeys of less than 500 km, and night trains beyond that,
- Connecting Europe Express: Increase interoperability between existing European networks, i.e. ensure transfer between 3 types of rail (there are currently 3 existing rail spacings in Europe),
- Develop soft mobility in urban areas.
Energy: Clean, affordable and safe energy
72% of Europe's primary energy comes from fossil fuels. The energy transition envisaged by the EU is based on the substitution of these resources by decarbonized energies and on energy sobriety/efficiency policies. Among the objectives defined :
- Making the energy system more circular: for example, recovering waste heat from factories to heat nearby homes.
- Increase the share of renewable energies in the European energy mix from 22% in 2018 to 40% by 2030, and 84% by 2050.
- In particular, by exploiting 3% of the available maritime space for offshore wind power: from current production capacity of 12 GW to 60 GW in 2030, and 300 GW in 2050,
- Increase the share of green hydrogen in the European energy mix (today, it accounts for 2% of European energy consumption).
- Improving energy efficiency (e.g. through building insulation): the EU has set itself the target of reducing its final energy consumption by 1.5% each year between 2024 and 2030,
- Electrify uses, as electricity is a secondary energy that can be "clean" (for example, thecarbon footprint of an electric car is generally smaller than that of a combustion-powered car).
All these efforts should enable Europe to considerably reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and thus cut its carbon dioxide emissions.
Agriculture: From farm to table
Agriculture accounted for 10.3% of the European Union's GHG emissions in 2019 (Eurostat). The European strategy for the sector, known as "Farm to Fork", sets a number of objectives:
- Ensuring food security, within planetary limits,
- Ensuring access to healthy food and promoting sustainable consumption,
- Reduce biodiversity loss (pesticides),
- Increase the share of organic farming from 8.5% in 2019 to 25% in 2030,
- Reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030,
- Reduce chemical fertilizers by 20%.
Since its launch, however, this agricultural policy has been the subject of much criticism from European agricultural players, who accuse it of undermining the competitiveness of European agriculture in the face of products from countries with much less stringent environmental legislation. The subject was once again raised during debates on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.
Biodiversity: Preserving and protecting biodiversity
According to estimates by the World Resource Institute, between 150 and 200 wild species are disappearing every day. In order to stem this decline in biodiversity and preserve the balance of today's ecosystems, the EU plans to :
- Extension of protected areas (Natura 2000) to at least 30% of the EU's land and sea area,
- Pesticide reduction (see paragraph on agriculture),
- Allocate a significant budget to monitoring and measuring the progress of biodiversity actions,
- Plant three billion trees across Europe by 2030.
Social impact: mechanism for a just transition
In order to "leave no one behind", Europe's ecological transition is endowed with a fund aimed at the most vulnerable entities. This involves 5 billion euros over the period 2021-2027 mobilized by the Just Transition Fund. Beneficiaries include:
- Citizens: to re-qualify for jobs in less carbon-intensive sectors, to help them with the energy transition and energy efficiency (home insulation),
- Companies: to invest in greener technologies and attract investors.
- The regions: to support this transition and create jobs in the green economy.
How do you achieve carbon neutrality? Fit for 55!
Among the elements mentioned above, some are included in the "Fit for 55" climate package unveiled on July 14, 2021, the details of which are and will be discussed for two years. This set of legislative texts aims to compel member states to reduce their carbon emissions and/or develop GHG capture. It groups together 12 measures to move Europe towards climate neutrality by 2050, and thus meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. These include (but are not limited to)
- Updated regulations for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme:
- Extension to more sectors,
- Gradual replacement of free allocation to the most polluting industries by the border carbon adjustment mechanism,
- Increase carbon sinks: reforestation with the planting of 3 billion trees,
- Renewable energy ambitions revised upwards,
- Kerosene tax on intra-European flights,
- End of sales of combustion-powered vehicles in 2035,
- Tax the most carbon-intensive fuels and redirect use towards more sustainable fuels, for example in aviation and shipping.
The difficulties of the European green deal
The task of achieving a climate-neutral continent by 2050 is colossal, and Europe is a pioneer in this field, which is very encouraging. What's more, this Green Deal opens the way to higher international standards on environmental issues, encouraging partners to align themselves with European ambitions. It is also an opportunity for Europe to boost its economy and export an environmentally sustainable model to the rest of the world.
While very encouraging, implementing such measures in the time available is a major challenge. This is due to the number and diversity of the players involved.
Inequalities in the initial energy mix
Within the EU, member states are divided. On the subject of energy transition, countries start out unequal, with Poland, for example, whose energy resources are 70% coal-based, or Germany, where the majority of energy is still of fossil origin. This division is reflected in the negotiation of legislative texts, often revised downwards in terms of ambition, and even in the refusal to sign the green deal (in the case of Poland).
Socio-economic inequalities: ensuring a green transition that "leaves no one behind
From a social point of view too, we need to ensure that the transition is fair for the most vulnerable households in the face of any price rises: building renovation, food prices (organic and sustainable), access to energy (heating, mobility)... It's possible to see social movements rise up across Europe, such as that of the yellow vests in France, if households aren't properly supported in this environmental transition.
Its financing should thus enable the implementation of a vast de recovery plan, focused in particular on the construction and development of a European green industry. It will, however, require strong political initiatives and support for stakeholders over the long term.
Stormy discussions with lobbies
Finally, in all sectors, the maneuvering of the lobbies is likely to lead to a downward revision of the initial objectives set by the European Union, and delay their implementation. Their primary argument being exposure to tough international competition, it will be necessary to hold negotiations to support a European pact that is equal to today's environmental challenges.
Resources :
- 1000 billion euros for the green pact
- The European Green Deal Investment Plan and Just Transition Mechanism explained
- Farm to Fork strategy
- Biodiversity strategy
- Energy and Green Deal
- Green Pact and climate package: the EU aims for carbon neutrality by 2050
