‘Greenlash’: Why it’s getting harder to pass environmental reforms in the EU

 

Source: Euronews
August 13 2023

What is ‘greenlash’? Here's how right-wing parties are using the cost of living crisis to roll back green policies.

A growing 'greenlash' against Europe's environmental agenda has so far failed to derail its decarbonisation plans. But looming elections could put future climate and nature measures at risk.

The European Union has polished its role as a leader on climate change, enshrining carbon reduction targets in law and proposing policies to slash emissions this decade.

And so far the impact of the green backlash is limited, say policymakers and analysts, because most of Europe's main CO2-cutting policies are fixed into law.

But as policymakers seek to translate net-zero targets into measures that extend beyond power generation to areas such as buildings and transport, they face increasing resistance as citizens struggle with a cost of living crisis.

Angst over a law to phase out oil and gas heating brought Germany's ruling coalition close to breaking point, while in the Netherlands, anger at plans to cut nitrogen pollution led to a shock poll win for a new farmers' protest party.


Politicians are tapping into fears about the cost of green policies

Analysts say politicians are increasingly tapping into worries about the expense of green policies ahead of regional, national and EU elections over the next year-and-a-half.

"It's definitely different circumstances than in 2019 when we started with this maximum support and the political willingness to act from... across the parties," European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told news agency Reuters.


Politicians must take into account polls showing a large majority of citizens are worried about climate change and strong business interests behind the green transition.

"We have this stable majority which supports the green deal," he said, referring to the level of support in the European Parliament for the EU's overall green agenda.

"But then we come to more difficult files [EU legal proposals] where I think, inevitably, they are very much affected by the political debate," Sinkevicius added.

It's getting harder to pass green laws in the EU

As a result, officials say it is getting harder to pass green laws, with some EU governments resisting new emissions limits for cars and seeking to weaken pollution controls for livestock farms. A proposal to improve the energy efficiency of buildings faces pushback from countries worried by the cost.

Poland's government, which faces October elections, is even suing Brussels over climate policies.

"Does the EU want to make authoritarian decisions about what kind of vehicles Poles will drive?" its Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa asked last month.

Nature conservation measures face even greater opposition than decarbonisation ones due to lobbying by the powerful agriculture sector and a lack of strong business incentives for change, said Nathalie Tocci, director of Italian international relations think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali.
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Although a recent campaign by the centre-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament, to kill off a proposed law to restore damaged environments failed, the proposal looks set to be diluted.

"The elections to the European Parliament next year will be very decisive if one looks further ahead, because the centre right group is turning more negative to green policies," the European Council on Foreign Relations' Mats Engström said.

Europe risks falling behind on green technology

Another concern is the impact on Europe's diplomatic standing and investor confidence, coming as the United States offers multi-billion dollar green subsidies and tax breaks.

"It's slightly ironic that Europe is having these problems when the United States has finally got its act together," said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ward said Europe risked falling behind India and China in establishing green industries and technologies.

Last year, India boosted solar capacity by 28 per cent, outpacing the capacity growth of European heavyweights.

"If Europe is wavering, it will allow other countries to take advantage in the international markets in electric vehicles and other technologies," Ward said.

Britain has already quickly gone from being a leader on the world stage to looking quite weak on green policies, he said.

Britain's climate advisers said in June the country is not doing enough to meet its 2050 net zero target, while a government-commissioned review found businesses complained of weaknesses in Britain's investment environment.

Progress in UK onshore and offshore wind has been hampered by rule changes, for example, prompting some developers to warn they will struggle to invest without better incentives.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who faces an election within 18 months, last month warned of climate policies that "unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs".

How can the EU drum up support for green policies?

Europe's green policies are still more credible than US ones, given see-sawing between electoral cycles in the United States, some analysts said.

But EU politicians are going to need to address more concerns of citizens and businesses if they want to maintain support as they legislate on sectors that hit close to home.

Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten told Reuters in June that the main challenge for the next few years was for politicians to show that the green transition was also a just one, with support available for those in need.

Rows over green policies have propelled right-wing populist parties to second place in both Dutch and German polls.

The German heating law debacle underscored the importance of ensuring green laws enabled transition without overwhelming anyone, Nina Scheer, climate protection spokesperson for the ruling Social Democrats in parliament, said.

"Otherwise citizens might start to feel that climate policy is always financially overwhelming and bad, and that sentiment is then exploited by populists."

Crafting a strong green industrial policy is key, said Simone Tagliapietra, Senior Fellow at think-tank Bruegel.

"If we don't create green jobs in Europe, if we don't make sure to have these industrial and economic opportunities, we will be in trouble," Tagliapietra said.

India again refrains from extending support to China's Belt and Road Initiative: SCO Joint Statement

 

Source: ANI
Jul 5 2023

India again refrains from extending support to China's Belt and Road Initiative: SCO Joint Statement India has again opted out of supporting China's Belt and Road Initiative becoming the only country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) refusing to endorse the project.

The New Delhi Declaration after the conclusion of the summit, which took place on Tuesday under India's chairmanship, stated that Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support to the BRI 

The SCO summit concluded under India's presidency earlier in the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and heads of state of other SCO nations virtually took part in the event.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Delhi Declaration stated, "Reaffirming their support for China's "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan note the ongoing work to jointly implement this project, including efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and BRI."

"They spoke in favour of implementing the Roadmap for gradual increase in the shar of national currencies in mutual settlements by the interested Member States," the statement also said.

India has earlier as well refused to support Xi Jinping's flagship programme for trade and connectivity. During the previous SCO meets as well, India has not changed its stance on the BRI (/topic/bri) and has become the country not to endorse the project.

"The Member States intend to broaden and deepen cooperation for sustainable socioeconomic development and to improve the well-being and living standards of the people in the SCO region," the SCO New Delhi Declaration said, adding, "They consider it important to ensure the implementation of the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030 adopted by interested Member States, other joint programmes and projects aimed at promoting cooperation in such priority areas."

Meanwhile, virtually addressing the SCO meeting of heads of state on Tuesday, Xi reiterated Beijing's stand of enhancing BRI and talked about "high-quality Belt and Road cooperation" with development strategies of various countries and regional cooperation initiatives, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Addressing the 23rd SCO summit, Xi Jinping said, "Efforts should be made to further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, speed up the development of port infrastructure and regional and international logistic corridors, and ensure stable and smooth functioning of regional industrial and supply chains".

"Ten years ago, I proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, and on its tenth anniversary, China will hold the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation," Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

However, India has said that although connectivity is very important, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the countries should be respected.

"Prime Minister clearly said in his remarks that connectivity is important for SCO member states. But connectivity has to be respectful of sovereignty and territorial integrity. India's position on the BRI has been clear," Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said while addressing the briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday.

The summit, chaired by PM Modi, was joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders of the grouping.

India's chairmanship of SCO has been a period of intense activity and mutually beneficial cooperation between Member States. India has hosted a total of 134 meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level meetings.

India remains committed to playing a positive and constructive role in the organization and looks forward to a successful SCO Summit as the culmination of its Chairmanship.

The rotational presidency remains with India until September 2023. (ANI)

BRICS at a Historical Turning Point: Unexpected Challenges

 

Source : moderndiplomacy
July 2 2023
By Tiomfey Bordachev



The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) was created in conditions where the universal power of the West had already entered a period of slow decline, but few had any doubts that the United States and Europe would be able to determine the main characteristics of the world economy and international politics for a long time. Globalisation and the system of international institutions created with their vigorous participation were still coping, on the whole, with their tasks, and there were not enough obvious prerequisites and reasons for their landslide collapse. In fact, it was globalisation and the international institutions created by the West that determined the “packaging” of the international order, centred around the wealth accumulated over several centuries and the military and political capabilities of its founders.

The main systemic characteristic of BRICS is that it is a community of revisionists, i. e. powers that did not set as their goal the destruction of the world order, but sought to achieve the inclusion of their interests in this order. All its participants were able to extricate themselves from their previous plight thanks to the opportunities that the unjust international order led by the West gave them. All of them grew at the expense of resources, although they were dramatically curtailed in the realisation of their basic interests and values. Finally, none of the BRICS countries has plans to forcibly change the existing order of things, as revolutionary France, Germany and Japan have tried to do at one point or another over the past 250 years.

However, as contradictions accumulated in the world, even the modest revisionist wishes of the BRICS members became a factor that is leading, if not to the destruction of the existing international order, then to its most fundamental restructuring. Accordingly, the expectations regarding the BRICS countries are being shaped by their main partners, as well as opponents to their rise. Many countries throughout the world are now looking at the BRICS as a group that can, if not pick up the banner of global governance from the West, then at least become its second pillar; one that is more just and less selfish in relation to the small and medium-sized states of the world. In other words, expectations about the role of the BRICS in world affairs are shaped independently of the will of the participants in this group: they become the product of the evolution of the entire international order in a direction whose main features we have yet to witness.

The most striking manifestation of such hopes is the numerous ideas about expanding the BRICS by including new states. A list of countries has already been formed — candidates for joining the group, some of which look like real heavyweights. But in order to move forward in understanding how the BRICS’ contribution to new global governance can truly be decisive, we need to ask ourselves a few questions. First, can the BRICS group maintain internal unity in an era when even the strongest international partnerships are being severely challenged? Second, is it possible in the current circumstances for the BRICS to maintain the revisionist nature of their behaviour in relation to the order that was created with their minimal participation and, in part, at the expense of their interests?

No one can doubt that the decisive influence of the BRICS in the shaping of the main aspects of the global agenda will make the world more just and stable. Russia, which assumes the chairmanship of the group in 2024, can set this as one of its main general political goals. Such a contribution is virtually inevitable, simply because the BRICS countries are not parasitic powers whose success and achievements depend on the ability to get the rest of the world to serve their interests. Their economic opportunities and political influence aren’t grounded in a history of bloody wars, conducted with the purpose of establishing regional and global dominance. On the contrary, it was through wars — within itself and with those around it — that the modern community of Western countries, has created “its own” international order.

However, in order to fully realize the BRICS mission, this association will very likely have to answer the aforementioned questions, regarding its own destiny. We cannot ignore the fact that all the experience of strong institutions and global governance is the experience of the West, i.e. a community united by common values and, most importantly, interests in relation to the surrounding world. This is what allows them to stick together and be relatively effective in opposing the rest of humanity. Only forceful dictate of the US against its main allies would not be enough. It certainly plays an important role, but it cannot be the only fundamental factor. In the centre are the interests and values that led to the situation of the impossibility of any serious internal conflicts among the countries of the West.

Unlike the US and Europe, the BRICS community is not based on the idea of exploiting other countries and regions. The political systems of its members do not come from a single source, as is certainly the case of Europe and the United States. Moreover, the different civilizational foundations of the BRICS countries directly prevent them from creating an association whose internal discipline would be comparable to the West. Therefore, any observer can now question the ability of the BRICS to set the world agenda in the same way as the G7 countries have been doing for decades. The BRICS members may yet have to figure out how they can respond to the expectations of the international community, which has come to expect the dictatorship of the West and the patronage of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS are already establishing concrete ways of contributing to the formation of the agenda for the whole world, and there are obvious achievements. However, as the ability of the United States and Europe to indicate the direction of movement to everyone collapses, the demand for clear support from the BRICS will only increase.

This means that the member countries of the group may, theoretically, face some challenges to their unity. Forming an alternative agenda to the dictates of the West is one thing, but creating ways to solve global development and security problems for the whole world, or at least for the countries of the World Majority, may turn out to be a more difficult task. In the near future, the BRICS may be required to be able to offer others new tools to address their core development problems, which means that the group’s degree of unity on key issues will need to go beyond weighty political statements.

An equally serious issue may be the preservation of the nature of the BRICS as a community aimed not at destroying the existing world order, but at improving it for the better. This is what makes it revisionist, and not revolutionary in terms of the intentions of the participating countries and the tasks that they set for themselves. The BRICS countries do not want the collapse of globalisation, institutions and international law. This means that their task is more complex: to create within the existing order such rules, norms and ways of cooperation that would allow for the preservation of its advantages and the elimination of its shortcomings. That revision, and not revolution, is the goal of the BRICS countries, the basis for the sustainability of this association and its relations with other countries of the World Majority. Preserving this nature is completely within the interests of the BRICS member countries and the entire international community. The alternative can only be a split in the group and the continuation of the power of that narrow group of countries, to counteract whose egoism the BRICS was created.

Timofey Bordachev: PhD in Political Science, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Academic supervisor of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE University, RIAC Member.