European Union Climate Policy Research Articles

Europejski Zielony Ład, czyli jak Unia Europejska zamierza uczynić z Europy pierwszy neutralny kontynent dla klimatu?

THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL, OR HOW DOES THE EUROPEAN UNION INTEND TO MAKE EUROPE THE FIRST CLIMATE-NEUTRAL CONTINENT? The research aim of the paper is to analyze the objectives of the European Union (EU) climate policy and the instruments for their implementation, as well as to present the challenges on the way to achieving climate neutrality by the EU. In 2015, during the 21st UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, an agreement was agreed, the purpose of which is to limit global warming, aiming, among other things, for limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to no more than 1.5°C. All EU Member States have ratified the above agreement, while agreeing to take action to make the EU the world’s first climate-neutral economy and society by 2050. To achieve this, the “European Green Deal” strategy was adopted, followed by the European Climate Law and the “Fit for 55” package of legislative proposals. In addition, a more ambitious EU climate target for 2030 has been agreed, namely a reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels. Based on this, the following research hypothesis should be put forward, assuming that if all initiated projects, climate programs and mechanisms are fully implemented, the EU will become the first climate neutral continent by 2050. The first part of the article focuses on the goals of the European Green Deal and their implementation. The second part discusses the assumptions of European Climate Law and the elements of the “Fit for 55” package, as well as presents the most important financial instruments of the EU climate policy. The third part contains an analysis of the challenges standing in the way of the EU achieving climate neutrality by 2050, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Energy transition in Poland and Spain against changes in the EU energy and climate policy

The European Union climate policy and the subsequent energy transition are expected to cause fundamental changes in individual EU countries, their economies, and industrial sectors. Furthermore, in order to achieve them, high financial outlays are essential. The main purpose of the article is to present a comparative analysis of the pace, directions, and main factors of the energy transition in Poland and Spain against the changes in the EU energy and climate policy. In particular, the subject of the study is the changes in the fuel structure of electricity generation (energy mix) and the changes in the concentration of energy generation. The analysis concentrates on Poland and Spain against the background of the group of EU27 countries. The study adopted a long-term perspective (1990–2020). The methodology used taxonomic measures of variability of structures and measures of concentration, as well as measures of descriptive and mathematical statistics. The result of the research proves that the EU common climate and energy policy has explicitly accelerated changes in the energy mix, both in the EU27 and in the studied countries, including those traditionally based on coal. The concentration analysis demonstrated an increase in diversification resulting in a significant increase in the share of renewable and low-carbon sources. The taxonomic analysis additionally proved that there was a parallel process towards making the energy mix of the studied countries more similar to the EU27. The limitation of the research is the adopted triangulation arrangement of the studied structures (EU27, EU15, countries that accessed the EU after 2004), enforced in this pilot research, but possible to expand the field of perception in subsequent research. What serves as a proof of the originality of the study is the fulfilment of research gaps in the long-term study of the degree of changes in the concentration of the energy mix structure of EU countries, and especially the study of the degree of intensity of its similarity. The application value of the study is its use in the energy policies of countries traditionally based on coal for the indication of the taken position, the goals, and ways to achieve them based on the experience of other countries.

Health burden and costs attributable to the carbon footprint of the health sector in the European Union

BackgroundThe healthcare sector has an environmental impact of around 4.6% of global CO2 emissions, contributing to aggravating the climate crisis. However, the impact of the health sector’s emissions on human health is not regularly assessed. We aim to estimate the health burden and associated costs of the health sector’s carbon footprint within the European Union (EU). MethodsWe calculated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and associated costs based on human health damage factors (DALYs/kg-CO2e) by considering four scenarios. Three scenarios for shared socioeconomic pathways (S1 – high growth, S2 − baseline, and S3 − low growth) represented variations of global society, demographics, and economics until 2100. A fourth scenario (S4) considered the current EU’s 55% reduction goal of greenhouse gas emissions. The healthcare sector’s emissions per capita (in CO2-equivalent) in 2019 were extracted from the Lancet Countdown, and population data were retrieved from Eurostat for the same year. ResultsIn the EU, 365,047 DALYs (95%CI: 194,692–535,403) are expected to be caused by the health sector’s emissions at baseline (S2). In an S1 scenario, the burden would slightly decrease to 316,374 DALYs (95%CI: 170,355–462,393), whereas a S3 scenario would increase 486,730 DALYs (95%CI: 243,365–681,422). If EU’s carbon goals are met, the burden could be substantially reduced to 164,271 DALYs (95%CI: 87,611–240,931). Costs can amount to 25.6 billion euros, when considering DALYs monetisation. ConclusionCO2 emissions from the health sector are expected to significantly impact human health. Therefore, it is important to ensure that EU climate policies for public buildings are in line with the Paris Agreement, increase funding for climate mitigation programs within the healthcare sector, and review clinical practices at the local level.

Deployment of small modular reactors in the European Union

This paper was written after the beginning of the 2022 energy and security crisis in Europe, which forced the national state governments as well as the European Union (EU) to reexamine environmental and energy strategies. The paper focuses on the role that small modular reactors (SMRs) may play as a part of a medium and long-term solution to this unprecedented situation. The history of EU climate policies and the current energy situation in the EU is broadly examined. The paper explores the potential energy, national security, and environmental benefits of nuclear power, along with its possible contribution to a net-zero economy. The main focus of the study, involving discussions with experts in the United States (US), was on the development of SMR-specific regulations, as well as the progress of SMR deployment projects in the US. The discussion explores SMR deployment challenges and potential solutions, in terms of policy recommendations applicable for the EU and its member states, in case a rapid SMR deployment becomes politically desirable.

EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL: INSTITUSIONALISM UNI EROPA DALAM MENGHADAPI ISU PERUBAHAN IKLIM

his research analyzes the efforts of the European Union (EU) in overcoming climate change through the European Green Deal (EGD). Neoliberalism perspectives, Neoliberal institutionalism theory, and sustainable development are used to further analyze energy transitions and sustainability in EGD. The importance of EGD to the EU climate policy sustainability shows the expansion of sector coverage and progress in achieving the goal, being climate neutral by 2050. Through EGD, the EU is carrying out an energy transition with a wider sector coverage, such as buildings, industry, food, and agriculture. In order to achieve common goals, it is necessary to implement EGD as the European Union's foreign policy. EU efforts through EGD policies and strategies are renewable energy, REPowerEU, Farm to Fork strategy, deforestation strategy, New European Bauhaus, and the European Sustainable Investment Plan to support the sustainability of EGD on financial allocation with a just transition mechanism

Wzrastające znaczenie polityki klimatycznej w Unii Europejskiej po wejściu w życie traktatu z Maastricht: główne przyczyny, skutki i wyzwamia

Climate policy is a new area of European integration, although there were no exact references to the issue of climate change in the Maastricht Treaty. However, this article draws attention to the interesting coincidence of the creation of the European Union (EU) in the 1990s and the consequences of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro which started the process of greening the EU Member States’ foreign policies and enhanced the importance of environmental and climate protection issues on the international agenda. The Member States and EU institutions, acting within the institutional framework defined by the Maastricht Treaty, in the face of the limitations resulting from unanimous voting in taxation policy, started to develop climate policy (in particular, the EU Emissions Trading System), mainly based on environmental law, enabling decisions to be taken by a qualified majority. The growing importance of climate policy in the EU was influenced by many factors and the different motivations of individual Member States and other European policy actors. After depicting the main causes and effects of the growing importance of EU climate policy, the article discusses the most important challenges facing the EU with regard to the implementation of an ambitious climate policy. In recent years, one of the main reasons for this increase is the fact that each of the successive overlapping crises (concerning migration, pandemic, Russia–Ukraine war or spiking energy prices) is a suitable opportunity to strengthen EU climate policy.

Three decades of EU climate policy: Racing toward climate neutrality?

AbstractThe European Union (EU) began developing climate policy in the 1990s. Since then, it has built up a broad portfolio of mitigation policy measures and governance tools, including legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and policy measures addressing emissions trading, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and more. In 2019, the European Commission—the EU's executive arm—published the European Green Deal (EGD), an overarching policy framework to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The EGD aims to push EU climate policy and governance far beyond incremental policy development. In this article, we ask: does the EGD represent a break from past patterns of EU climate governance? We argue that it maintains several past patterns, but nevertheless breaks from other established policy and governance trends. We review insights from politicization and new institutionalist theoretical lenses to help us understand these findings. We reveal certain tensions and challenges inherent in the EU's climate governance approach—around speed and coherence, effectiveness and just transition—that highlight future research needs, and raise questions about the EU's ability to implement its climate policy goals.This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance

The role of forests in the EU climate policy: are we on the right track?

BackgroundThe European Union (EU) has committed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This requires a rapid reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ensuring that any remaining emissions are balanced through CO2 removals. Forests play a crucial role in this plan: they are currently the main option for removing CO2 from the atmosphere and additionally, wood use can store carbon durably and help reduce fossil emissions. To stop and reverse the decline of the forest carbon sink, the EU has recently revised the regulation on land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), and set a target of − 310 Mt CO2e net removals for the LULUCF sector in 2030.ResultsIn this study, we clarify the role of common concepts in forest management – net annual increment, harvest and mortality – in determining the forest sink. We then evaluate to what extent the forest sink is on track to meet the climate goals of the EU. For this assessment we use data from the latest national GHG inventories and a forest model (Carbon Budget Model). Our findings indicate that on the EU level, the recent decrease in increment and the increase in harvest and mortality are causing a rapid drop in the forest sink. Furthermore, continuing the past forest management practices is projected to further decrease the sink. Finally, we discuss options for enhancing the sinks through forest management while taking into account adaptation and resilience.ConclusionsOur findings show that the EU forest sink is quickly developing away from the EU climate targets. Stopping and reversing this trend requires rapid implementation of climate-smart forest management, with improved and more timely monitoring of GHG fluxes. This enhancement is crucial for tracking progress towards the EU’s climate targets, where the role of forests has become – and is expected to remain – more prominent than ever before.

Rethinking National Competitiveness for Europe 2050: The Case of EU Countries

The EU climate policy affects the competitiveness of both the European Union (EU) as a whole and individual member states, leading countries to search for new knowledge to increase their national competitiveness. However, there has been little empirical research about the implementation of green competitive strategies in the common European space from different countries’ perspectives. Using the Porter Hypothesis and system theory, this paper explores national competitive strategies that align with climate neutrality in the EU. We used index construction, clusterization, principal components analysis and trajectories change analysis to analyze data from the 24 EU countries from a 10-year period (2012–2021). The main findings reveal three green competitiveness profiles and five green competitiveness progress strategies in the EU. We found that EU countries have different strategies and conditions in terms of their transition towards climate neutrality and competitiveness, which ultimately lead to different rates of progress. Our results provide an initial basis for the development of nation-specific policies to achieve green competitiveness.

Transmission Mechanisms of the European Union Climate Policy to the Polish Energy Policy

Purpose: The aim of the article is to identify and describe the relationship between climate policy of the European Union and energy policy of Poland. Design/methodology/approach: The main research problem is to understand the mechanisms of policy transmission from the European Union level to Poland and to evaluate these transmission mechanisms from the point of view of energy policy coherence. The article rests upon the results of qualitative research based mainly on official documents and the law. Findings: The article is a synthetic presentation of the policy transmission mechanisms. It points out methodological problems in the fundamental policy assumptions. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by the potential bias of some lobbying sources, as well as the fact that energy policy development is a process. Programs are constantly being developed, which in turn means that some assumptions may be modified due to changing circumstances. Originality/value: The originality and value of the article manifests itself in a context-free diagnosis of the goals, effects and methods of implementing the tasks adopted in the climate and energy policies of the European Union and Poland.

Where is climate asylum?

This editorial discusses an alarming issue in the time of climate change: climate mobilities and, particularly, forced climate migration and the need for climate refuge and climate asylum. The focus is on the European Union (EU) where migration and asylum policies are being currently developed under the 'New Pact', yet with little intention to relate with climate mobilities of any kind. Neither does the EU's environmental and climate policy Green Deal give much attention to human mobility. At the same time, the EU has commenced many briefings on the topic, which shows that the subject matter itself is well known. The editorial hence asks, where is climate asylum if not in the EU, and when, if not at this juncture of creating new asylum policies?

First and last and always: Politics of the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle in EU energy and climate policy

The EU legislators have agreed that the ‘energy efficiency first’ (EE1) principle is made legally binding for Member States, to apply in policy, planning and major investment decisions. Through the EE1 principle, energy efficiency is to be made a priority in European Union (EU) energy and climate policy, providing what has been a missing link in fully implementing two other guiding principles of EU energy and climate policy: cost-effectiveness and consumer protection. In this article, I conduct an argumentative discourse analysis to better understand the politics of the EE1 principle in EU energy and climate policy. Two different discourses with a set of storylines were identified in the negotiations on the EE1 principle. The first focuses on multiple benefits of energy efficiency and a stronger role for the EE1 principle. The other focuses on climate change mitigation and a weaker role for the EE1 principle. The Council Presidency and the European Commission used discursive techniques such as frame polarisation, frame disconnection and frame incorporation to overcome these dualities. The description of storylines, discourse coalitions and discursive interaction strategies can help policymakers and other stakeholders become more aware of their own and others' argumentation on energy efficiency and how these could be changed, thus help policymakers and stakeholders better shape their strategies in future advocacy and policymaking.

IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE POLICY ON MIGRATIONS

The aim of the paper is to determine the impact of international climate policy on international migrations of population. The authors will present the main assumptions of the climate policy, including the strategy of the European Green Deal, the goals of sustainable development in the context of climate change affecting population migration. The article also addresses the issue of the correlation between climate change and political stability and the risk of conflicts. An important issue raised in this publication is the question of global solidarity in the fight against the negative effects of climate change and the possibility of implementing in practice such mechanisms as loss and damage fund. Keywords: climate policy, migration policy, climate change, European Union climate policy, population migrations.

Review and Perspectives of Key Decarbonization Drivers to 2030

Global climate policy commitments are encouraging the development of EU energy policies aimed at paving the way for cleaner energy systems. This article reviews key decarbonization drivers for Italy considering higher environmental targets from recent European Union climate policies. Energy efficiency, the electrification of final consumption, the development of green fuels, increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the electric system, and carbon capture and storage are reviewed. A 2030 scenario is designed to forecast the role of decarbonization drivers in future energy systems and to compare their implementation with that in the current situation. Energy efficiency measures will reduce final energy consumption by 15.6%, as primary energy consumption will decrease by 19.8%. The electrification of final consumption is expected to increase by 6.08%. The use of green fuels is estimated to triple as innovative fuels may go to market at scale to uphold the ambitious decarbonization targets set in the transportation sector. The growing trajectory of renewable sources in the energy mix is confirmed, as while power generation is projected to increase by 10%, the share of renewables in that generation is expected to increase from 39.08% to 78.16%. Capture and storage technologies are also expected to play an increasingly important role. This article has policy implications and serves as a regulatory reference in the promotion of decarbonization investments.

The Europeanization of Polish climate policy

The goal of the work was to analyse the positions of the selected Polish political parties about the European Union climate policy and to assess whether and to what extent the process of Europeanization is taking place in Poland. Climate change negatively influences economic growth: it affects food security and limits industrial output and economic development. It reduces labour productivity and influences international trade. The scope of this impact will depend on political decisions and the effectiveness of climate protection measures taken by individual governments. The negative attitude of political parties to climate policy may make it challenging to undertake the necessary adaptation and mitigation measures, even despite changes in social perception in this regard.

Eine Bewertung des REPowerEU-Plans – Energiewende trifft auf Geopolitik

fThe European Union (EU) has been facing an energy crisis since the autumn of 2021, which has been exacerbated by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, and the climate crisis. The war in Ukraine has changed European perceptions of energy trade with Moscow. In May 2022, the EU announced the REPowerEU plan, which aims at reducing imports of Russian energy by diversifying trade partners, increasing energy efficiency, and accelerating the energy transition. This article analyses the main developments in EU climate and energy policy since 2021, with a focus on the REPowerEU plan. The main elements of the plan are investigated, including a preliminary assessment. The article argues that the war in Ukraine has led to an acceleration of policies to implement the energy transition in the EU. However, numerous challenges and contradictions exist, such as the EU’s quest of new and more polluting fossil fuel supplies in the short-run, which could lead to new forms of carbon lock-in.

European Union Climate Policy — the Local Dimension

This paper aims to provide an insight into the opportunities and shortcomings with regard to the implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD) at the local level. Based on the example of Poland, the article centres around the main points, objectives, as well as financing sources of the EGD. Furthermore, the article assesses the possibilities of employing existing and new local planning instruments, with particular emphasis on municipal climate change adaptation plans. In order to elucidate the implementation of the EGD, the paper also indicates some practical transformation actions in the local economy in the field of energy and urban transport.

Nexus Between Trading Non-Green Products and Environment: Introducing Non-Green Trade Openness Index

Trade is a significant parameter that may impact environment positively or negatively. However, there is no consensus on this issue among the researchers. It seems likely that tradable products will affect the environmental quality level. However, this requires the separation of the international trade basket. Thus, this research asks whether trade in non-green products affects the level of environmental degradation in the 25 European Union (EU) member states? To answer this question, we develop an index of trade openness in non-green products and empirically investigate whether this index influences the ecological footprint. Non-green trade openness index represents the ratio of the total export and import of non-green products in a country’s international trade basket to that country’s Gross Domestic Product. Advanced panel estimation techniques are employed for a sample of 25 EU countries over the period between 2003 and 2016. The core finding–supporting the Pollution Haven Hypothesis–is that non-green trade openness reduces environmental degradation. We discuss several implications of this result for recent environmental policies, particularly for the EU climate policy.

Reflection of the EU Climate Policy Strategic Narrative in the Programmes of Latvian Political Parties—External Convergence and Influence on Shaping Public Opinion

Climate change, as well as the challenges that come with it, is one of the main issues in international and national politics today. Addressing the threats posed by climate change requires close cooperation at the international level and within each country, creating a dialogue between the political elite and society, thus promoting a common understanding and action across the European Union (EU). The aim of this research is to (1) identify what climate policy narratives are projected to the Latvian electorate (public) and (2) assess how these narratives are aligned with the EU-defined strategic climate policy narrative. The theoretical basis and methodological approach of the study is based on the concept of strategic narrative. It is assumed that the viability and impact of a strategic narrative is enhanced when there is coherence between all stages of the narrative life cycle (i.e., the EU level and the national policy level). The empirical basis of the study is based on the identification of the EU climate policy narrative in the sector’s regulatory documents, as well as an analysis of the election programmes of Latvian political parties (the last European Parliament (2019) and parliamentary (2018) election programmes). The results show that the narrative that the Latvian public receives from its political elite through the European Parliament and the national pre-election programmes is significantly different from the EU strategic narrative on climate policy. Based on the theoretical concept of strategic narrative, it can be concluded that the observed dissimilarity of narratives does not stimulate the inclusion of the Latvian public in the common EU space of climate policy understanding and action.

Agenda‐setting, policy formulation, and the EU institutional context: The case of the Just Transition Fund

AbstractUtilizing Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) as a basis, this article aims to further the understanding of the influence institutional factors have on agenda‐setting and policy formulation in the European Union (EU). It does so by analyzing the policy process of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) from agenda‐setting to policy formulation by the Commission. The research finds that policy entrepreneurship is strongly determined by the characteristics and overlap of institutional policy windows. In the JTF case, the institutional context enhanced the influence of policy entrepreneurs within the European Parliament, especially the S&D party, on the combined process of agenda‐setting and policy formulation. Therefore, this paper illustrates that EU MSF scholarship would benefit from taking institutional factors more into account. The conclusions also indicate that supranational institutions can play a larger role in EU climate policy formulation than some of the current research suggests.