What the EU stands to lose as the continent bakes

AS MUCH of Europe bakes in a heat wave – which has led to power cuts, deaths and wildfires – you’d think that the case for ambitious emissions cuts would be easy to make.

Not quite. The European Commission’s 2040 climate target has stuck to its climate change advisory board’s recommendation of a 90 per cent decline in greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels, which is welcome. But, under pressure from member states including Poland, Italy and France, it was only able to make that politically palatable with the addition of what the commission is calling “flexibilities” and critics are calling “loopholes”. It’s a clear sign that the geopolitical context – and the European Union’s (EU) approach to the environment – has changed.

The proposal allows for the use of international carbon credits – typically purchased from poorer, more vulnerable countries – to make up 3 per cent of emissions reductions from 2036 onward. In other words, it enables the EU to outsource climate action, and it’s the first time the bloc has set a climate target that isn’t wholly dependent on domestic progress.