The European Union – Angel or Devil?

Europeans simply love climate change – or at least they relish in the idea of stopping it. The European Union (EU), with its twenty-eight members, is leading the United Nations climate talks in Warsaw, Poland.

First to reach their emissions reductions of eight per cent by 2012, the EU are now pushing for new market mechanisms on climate financing, as well as calling for an agreement on forestry practices.

As far as ‘deliverables’ (agreements that could justify holding such expensive talks), the EU Council wants to advance work under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action; to reach an agreement when the Kyoto Protocol runs out.

Under Kyoto, the EU curbed its emissions through innovative policies including its controversial carbon market and climate energy packages. Its even offered to reduce its emissions to 30 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. It has mobilised €7.3 billion for ‘fast-start’ finance and is committed to significantly contribute to the goal of raising US$100 billion annually by 2020.

Emissions reduction is perhaps the mostcontroversial issue in the framework of a post-2015 agreement, and it’s something the EU Council is pushing. They have reaffirmed that developed countries should reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, while developing countries should collectively limit their predicted emissions growth rate, in the order of 15 to 30 per cent by 2020.

Some say the Europeans have it easy when it comes to climate change mitigation. France had almost reached its emission reduction targets before even signing up because around 40 per cent of its energy comes from nuclear power plants.

Germany stands to prosper from Energiewende, or energy transition, with the boom in solar and wind energy creating green jobs and future energy independence. Meanwhile, economic crises and slowing growth in southern countries has largely tapered emissions reduction.

The EU simply imports emissions-intensive commodities from other countries. Berlin’s green appearance hides its dirty industries offshore. Europe is the world’s second largest importer of palm oil after India and the world’s second largest importer of soy after China.

Two-thirds of the world’s production of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, which hold around 65 per cent of the world’s carbon stocks. The production of this much sought-after oil produces greenhouse emissions three times over. Farmers first clear lush forests, before burning cleared forests making them then more susceptible to CO2-emitting fires. The end result – Indonesia is the world’s third worst greenhouse emitter, and their emissions are expected to grow by a one-third by 2030.

By 2050, around 40 per cent of the Brazilian Amazon is expected to be lost due to soy expansion, according to Friends of the Earth. Brazil’s deforested area is equivalent to the size of France. Yet the EU is trumpeted as the model example on emission reductions.

The world is using soy beans to feed animals and palm oil in petroleum for automobiles. The EU Renewable Energy Directive predicts that 10 per cent of the transport sector to be powered by renewables by 2020, with eight and a half per cent of that by biofuels.

The EU already consumes half of the world’s biodiesel and by 2020 it will be the number one importer, with 42 per cent coming from non-EU sources. Developing countries argue at the international level that the Europeans are simply shifting the burden of greenhouse emissions, food insecurity, land grabs and water pollution onto developing countries whilst taking all the glory as a progressive bloc of Annex-I countries.

Both sides point at each other and cry foul, but compromise is lacking because they largely fail to acknowledge the other’s position.

By Cécile Schneider, photo by Friends of the Earth Europe.