{"id":2068,"date":"2020-02-06T18:24:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T18:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/?p=2068"},"modified":"2020-02-13T19:19:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T19:19:42","slug":"the-eus-green-deal-is-a-colossal-exercise-in-greenwashing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/novedades\/the-eus-green-deal-is-a-colossal-exercise-in-greenwashing\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU\u2019s green deal is a colossal exercise in greenwashing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Article from THe Guardian &#8211; Feb 6 2020- Emergencies tend to reveal our true priorities. When our house is burning down or the storm waters are flooding in, we hold on to what we value most, and leave the rest behind.<\/p>\n<p>A decade ago, the leaders of the European Union found themselves facing such a moment. With the French and German banks falling into a black hole, they did whatever it took to save them. Between 2009 and 2013, European governments\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.thomsonreuters.com\/answerson\/eu-bank-bailout-trillion-euros-allocated-graphic\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">channelled \u20ac1.6tn (\u00a31.36tn)\u00a0<\/a>to Europe\u2019s bankers, while imposing stringent austerity upon the European citizens they pledged to serve. When in 2015 they realised that more support was necessary, the European Central Bank\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-eurozone-ecb-qe\/the-life-and-times-of-ecb-quantitative-easing-2015-18-idUSKBN1OB1SM\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">printed \u20ac2.6tn<\/a>\u00a0over just four years.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element-rich-link--tag element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link-tag\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-tag\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-news--item rich-link--pillar-news\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__image-container u-responsive-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e299eefbc2ac00348afa53ba249c7fd2e575966\/0_27_3121_1872\/master\/3121.jpg?width=460&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=c7ff078095c7b77622f76746f02c1c79\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\">\n<h2 class=\"rich-link__title\"><a class=\"rich-link__link\">Sign up to the Green Light email to get the planet&#8217;s most important stories<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__arrow\">\u00a0Now, Europe confronts a crisis of far greater severity: a climate emergency. And so, last month, EU commission president\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ursula-von-der-leyen\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>\u00a0unveiled the European green deal, a \u20ac1tn, 10-year plan to reduce the EU\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared with 1990. \u201cThis is Europe\u2019s man on the moon moment,\u201d said Von der Leyen.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>At first, one cannot resist comparing the two sums and the priorities they reveal: more than \u20ac4.2tn to save Europe\u2019s financial sector; \u20ac1tn to save our world.<\/p>\n<p>But things are far worse than that. Whereas the \u20ac4.2tn for the financiers was new, actual funding, the \u20ac1tn that Von der Leyen has promised across 10 years in her green deal \u2013 \u20ac100bn annually \u2013 is mostly smoke and mirrors.<\/p>\n<p>Contrary to Von der Leyen\u2019s pledge to deliver a \u201cgreen investment wave\u201d, the green deal is largely composed of reshuffled money from existing EU funds and reheated promises to mobilise private-sector capital down the road. In total, the green deal will\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2020\/jan\/23\/who-pays-for-the-eus-1tn-green-deal\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">generate just \u20ac7.5bn<\/a>\u00a0in new budget commitments, stretched over seven years. By way of comparison, the commission is set to\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/energy\/news\/billions-to-be-wasted-on-unnecessary-gas-projects-study-says\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">spend \u20ac29bn<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 almost four times more \u2013 on \u201cunnecessary\u201d and environmentally destructive gas projects, according to a recent study. So much for a lunar landing.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-pullquote element--supporting\"><span class=\"inline-garnett-quote inline-icon \">\u00a0L<\/span>ooking at it dispassionately, Europe\u2019s green deal fails to inspire on all three important criteria: size, composition and scope.<\/aside>\n<p>Setting aside the fact that the \u20ac100bn per annum is so far fictitious, it does not come close to the funding needed to deliver the targets. Don\u2019t take our word for it. The commission itself\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/?uri=CELEX%3A52019DC0285\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">estimates<\/a>\u00a0that Europe needs \u20ac260bn annually to achieve its 2030 climate and energy targets \u2013 more than double the amount on offer. And that was before the commission\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-eu-commission-climate-factbox\/factbox-what-is-von-der-leyens-european-green-deal-idUSKBN1Y01OE\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">upgraded<\/a>\u00a0those targets last year.<\/p>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline1\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--rendered\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline1\" data-name=\"inline1\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,197|300,250|300,274|fluid\" data-phablet=\"1,1|2,2|300,197|300,250|300,274|620,350|550,310|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|300,274|620,1|620,350|550,310|fluid\" data-google-query-id=\"COPml6aTz-cCFRYGuQYd-_oNdw\"><\/div>\n<p>The composition of the green deal is another cause for despair. The so-called sustainable Europe investment plan waxes lyrical in the language of \u201cmobilisation\u201d, pledging to unlock billions of privately held euros in the interests of sustainable investment. Much like the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/strategy\/priorities-2019-2024\/jobs-growth-and-investment\/investment-plan-europe-juncker-plan_en\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Juncker plan<\/a>\u00a0before it, the green deal proposes to encourage private investment by shifting risk from privateers to the EU budget. But this does not reduce risk \u2013 it simply shifts it on to the shoulders of the European public, while ensuring that private investors enjoy all of the gains. Without a plan to coordinate energy production and distribution within a proper energy union, the commission\u2019s commitment to private capital promises only to intensify inequalities within and between member states.<\/p>\n<p>This brings us to the green deal\u2019s scope. On paper, the plan looks impressively holistic, from a \u201cfarm to fork\u201d sustainable food strategy to a \u201cnew circular economy action plan\u201d. However, its capacity to transform Europeans\u2019 lives is circumscribed by the commission\u2019s commitment to the austerian straitjacket of the \u201cstability and growth pact\u201d, which has condemned Europe to chronic stagnation. Valdis Dombrovskis, the commissioner at the helm of the green deal\u2019s investment plan, has said that he is keen to\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/economy-jobs\/news\/commission-lowers-expectations-about-beneficial-treatment-of-green-investment\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">avoid<\/a>\u00a0the \u201cdivisive debate\u201d of loosening fiscal rules.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the Green Deal is a plan for preservation, not transformation.<\/p>\n<p>The so-called \u201cjust transition mechanism\u201d \u2013 the commission\u2019s plan to support communities negatively affected by the shift away from fossil fuels \u2013 illustrates this logic of preservation. Von der Leyen has pitched the just transition mechanism as a \u201cpledge of solidarity and fairness\u201d. But to whom? Will there be \u201cjustice\u201d for the communities across Germany and France that have been asked to shoulder the costs of the climate transition? Does it speak to the swathes of Greek or Portuguese people who cannot afford to care about carbon emissions in 2050, preoccupied as they are with making ends meet this week? The stark answer is no.<\/p>\n<p>The just transition mechanism will \u201cmobilise\u201d a total of \u20ac100bn over 10 years towards coal-producing countries such as Hungary and Poland, which expect to see a \u201cvery significant part\u201d of the funding. Support for coal-dependent regions is an essential dimension of the just transition. But it does not take a cynic to see that the deployment of just transition funding in the green deal is a pork-barrel payoff to rightwing governments that supported Von der Leyen\u2019s election and who she fears might throw a spanner into her signature proposal. Entrusting these governments to deliver the just transition \u2013 given their extensive track record of\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/11\/03\/world\/europe\/eu-farm-subsidy-hungary.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">corruption<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euractiv.com\/section\/elections\/news\/investigated-for-vat-fraud-tusk-accuses-pis-of-abuse-of-power\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">abuse<\/a>\u00a0of EU funds \u2013 seems unwise.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-1 | 1\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-comment--item rich-link--pillar-opinion\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\">\n<h2 class=\"rich-link__title\"><span class=\"inline-garnett-quote inline-icon \">\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"rich-link__link\">It\u2019s taken years, but at last there\u2019s real hope for meaningful climate action<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__avatar\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline2\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot--inline2 ad-slot--rendered\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline2\" data-name=\"inline2\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,197|300,250|300,274|fluid\" data-phablet=\"1,1|2,2|300,197|300,250|300,274|620,350|550,310|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|300,274|620,1|620,350|550,310|fluid|300,600|160,600\" data-google-query-id=\"COzui6eTz-cCFbME1AodR4IPFA\"><\/div>\n<p>Von der Leyen is fond of speaking about the green deal as a big structural change. \u201cOur goal is to reconcile the economy with our planet,\u201d she has said. But at the same time, the EU has\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/energy\/maps\/pci_fiches\/pci_7_3_1_en_2017.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">approved<\/a>\u00a0and supported the construction of a multibillion-euro pipeline to transport gas between Israel and the EU, passing through the debtor\u2019s prison in which the Greek people continue to languish.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, hope is alive here in Europe. Together with our organisation, the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/diem25.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Democracy in Europe Movement 2025<\/a>, a coalition of European scientists, activists and trade unions has developed the\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/report.gndforeurope.com\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Blueprint for Europe\u2019s Just Transition<\/a>, a plan to invest 5% of the EU\u2019s GDP in carbon-neutral, just and shared prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>Climate activists will not be placated. In Brussels and around the world, the calls for a genuine green new deal continue to grow louder. They will not allow the EU green deal to co-opt their slogans while excluding their substance. Because this is an emergency, and a \u201cgreenwashed\u201d status quo is simply not enough.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"qtranxs-available-languages-message qtranxs-available-languages-message-en\">Sorry, this entry is only available in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\" class=\"qtranxs-available-language-link qtranxs-available-language-link-es\" title=\"Espa\u00f1ol\">Espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2068"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2083,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions\/2083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}