European Union leaders are set to slash tens of billions of euros from funds aimed at preventing catastrophic climate breakdown, after agreeing on a coronavirus recovery package.
Coronavirus Versus Climate: Make Or Break
The Brussels summit brought 27 leaders face to face after five months of remote diplomacy, in which time the coronavirus pandemic brought existing cracks across the loc into sharp focus. With some diplomats fearing talks over a record €1.1trn budget and €750bn coronavirus stimulus could be 'make or break for the bloc, the distance between the aims of four so-called frugal nations – led by the Netherlands – and other member states, finally began to diminish on Monday, albeit at the cost of environmental schemes.
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The proposal earmarked 30 percent of both the EU budget and the coronavirus recovery fund for climate protection. It said all spending must comply with a principle to 'no harm' to EU climate green goals. But it slashed the size of the EU’s Just Transition Fund, its flagship pot of money to help wean countries off fossil fuels, and watered down the climate ambitions required for countries to access the funds.
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Climate: Slash And Burn
Under the plans, the fund will now receive a combined €17.5bn from the budget and recovery fund – down from the €37.5bn set aside in a previous proposal. To access the money, countries previously needed to have a national target for cutting emissions. Under the new plans, they must commit to the EU’s goal to become ‘climate neutral’ by 2050 – a condition expected to allow Poland to access the fund without pledging to hit net-zero emissions itself.
The coal-heavy country is now expected to receive the most significant chunk of the Just Transition Fund and was the only country that refused to commit to the 2050 climate target at an EU summit in December. InvestEU, a pot of money earmarked under previous proposals to help meet climate change green goals, was also decimated – to a baseline allocation of less than €4bn, down from more than €31bn previously. Proposed funding for scientific research will also be slashed from €11.5bn to €5bn.
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Coronavirus Recovery Wind From Climate Change Recovery
While some described the plans as probably representing a massive blow to the climate, some observers said the green credentials of the deal would depend on what safeguards are used to ensure money goes to green technologies, and not polluting investments.
Others pointed out that the proposals fell short of the 40 percent climate spending share needed to align the package with EU climate goals. Anything below this level "would place a significantly higher burden on national budgets and additional regulatory reform measures to close the ensuing investment gap," said Andreas Graf, EU energy policy expert at think tank Agora Energiewende. The new proposals came days after all of the bloc’s 27 environment ministers signed a joint statement calling for a green recovery as countries emerge from the pandemic.
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