It seems they can’t stop. Earlier this month, EU climate ministers reached agreement on another new EU “climate target,” this time for 2040. Despite some concessions on certain points, EU member states agreed to reduce CO₂ emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels.
Some positive aspects: the introduction of the new and very expensive ETS2 tax on CO₂ emissions for those who drive gasoline or diesel cars or heat their homes with gas will be postponed by one year, to 2028. EU member states will also be able to offset a small portion (5%) of their emissions by purchasing so-called carbon credits outside the European Union, at the expense of taxpayers.
Strangely, a qualified majority of EU member states voted in favor of this type of policy. Only Hungary and Slovakia voted against it. Belgium and Bulgaria abstained. Italy, Poland, and Romania showed some resistance but ultimately supported the compromise. Other European governments are completely ignoring the growing opposition to this type of economically damaging climate policy.
The reason for making decisions on this issue right now is the so-called COP30 “climate summit” in Brazil. The European Commissioner responsible for climate policy, Wopke Hoekstra, reacted with delight to the fact that the EU will now be able to continue to play a “leading role” in climate policy. He admitted, however, that high energy costs and social protests were the reasons for the watering down of the European Commission’s proposals.
COP30
The annual UN climate summit COP will begin this month. Last year, this “COP” climate summit was held in Baku, a hub for oil and gas exploration. This year, it is being held in Belém, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon region, forcing Brazilians to clear forests to build new roads and airports to make the summit possible. Tens of thousands of hectares of protected Amazon rainforest have been cleared to build a new four-lane highway.
The fact that Donald Trump’s United States has once again abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement does not seem to worry European governments, nor does the fact that China and India continue to expand their coal-fired power plants. In China, for example, coal capacity has increased by 80-100 gigawatts this year. Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, and the eastern state of Assam, which recently withdrew incentives for clean energy projects, are planning to sign purchase agreements in the next two months for a total of at least 7 gigawatts of coal-fired power, to be delivered by 2030. Climate neutrality? “Net Zero”? No thanks, say India and China.
None of this seems to matter to the EU. Full of enthusiasm, the President of the European Commission thanked Brazilian President Lula, saying: “Brazil is showing great leadership. Whether it’s putting a price on carbon or fighting for our forests.”
It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. Aside from the EU’s implementation of its new bureaucratic directive on deforestation, which is causing anger both inside and outside Europe, Brazil is not exactly a role model when it comes to deforestation. Soybean cultivation, for example, is responsible for serious ecological damage.
Climate policy in the land of soybean cultivation
In August, Brazilian authorities decided to suspend the so-called “Amazon Soy Moratorium” (ASM). This agreement is a sectoral protocol under which commodity traders agreed to avoid purchasing soybeans from areas deforested after 2008. According to some studies, this has contributed to reducing the overall rate of deforestation in the Amazon region. What is noteworthy about this agreement is that it was voluntary and brought together farmers, environmental activists, and international food companies. It made it possible to significantly increase soybean production without destroying the Amazon region and is estimated to have prevented the deforestation of 17,000 km².
The WWF warns on this point: “Without adequate safeguards, the soy industry is causing widespread deforestation and the displacement of small farmers and indigenous peoples around the world.” Although soybeans for oil production are grown on an area of 125 million hectares, accounting for almost 30% of the area planted with oilseeds worldwide, they meet only 28% of the demand for vegetable oil, suggesting considerable inefficiency.
NGOs have therefore denounced that soybean production in Brazil contributes significantly to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, both directly through the clearing of forests for new soybean crops and through the displacement of small farmers who then move to forest areas to engage in subsistence farming. The infrastructure for the development of this sector also plays an important role, as does the use of pesticides and the impact that soybean cultivation has on water consumption and waste treatment. In addition, the Brazilian agricultural sector, and therefore also soybean cultivation to a large extent, is responsible for about three-quarters of the CO₂ emissions of the country where the global climate club is now meeting.
A democratic deficit
In an article on COP30, the BBC interviewed Claudio Verequete, a simple Brazilian worker. He complains about the new road built to bring climate policymakers to Belém: “Everything has been destroyed,” he says, pointing to the clearing, and adds: “Our crop has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family.“ He claims he has received no compensation from the state government and is also concerned that the construction of this road will lead to increased deforestation in the future, now that the area is more accessible to businesses.
In Europe, many people agree more with Claudio’s point of view than with that of the European Commission, which continues to boast of being a ”climate leader.” In recent years, however, public support for costly climate policies has declined significantly in Europe. While in 2018, 35% of Europeans still considered climate and the environment to be among the two most important challenges facing the EU, today that figure has fallen to 10%. The contrast with the decisions of policymakers is striking. A real democratic deficit.
[photo: UN Climate Change – Kiara Worth]
