The latest edition of our Sustainable Views newsletter
Dear reader,
The State of the Union speech by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has received the usual blanket coverage, at least in the Brussels bubble. Much less attention has been paid to the fact yesterday was also the deadline for the EU executive’s call for evidence on its planned environmental omnibus.
As I reported on Sustainable Views, many commentators saw the speech as “resetting the tone” (in a positive way) on the second von der Leyen presidency. She committed to deffinish climate and environmental policies and introduce initiatives to support Europe’s clean tech sector.
But, as many pointed out, how do such pledges sit with existing and future omnibus proposals, and the EU-US trade deal and its promises to purchase vast amounts of liquefied natural gas from Washington?
The call for evidence was launched (purposely?) in the middle of the summer holidays and aimed, in the commission’s words, at gathering input on “simplify[ing] environmental legislation concerning the circular economy, industrial emissions and waste management”.
Nearly 200,000 Europeans replied to the call. “Their message was crystal clear: do not weaken the laws that protect nature, our environment and our health,” declares Faustine Bas-Defossez, nature, health and environment director at the non-profit European Environmental Bureau.
The commission declares the plan is “real simplification for operators without affecting the EU’s environmental objectives and the protection of human health”.
Yet, its first omnibus on sustainability due diligence and reporting will, especially if proposals by rightwing MEPs and certain EU member states are approved, almost certainly reduce corporate focus on climate action, nature protection and human rights.
And unless the commission sticks to technical simplifications that do not lead to significant alters or the reopening of agreed laws, it is difficult to see how health and green objectives will not be weakened under its environmental omnibus.
Legal certainty as a foundation for competitiveness
Louise Simon, EU policy and due diligence lead at consider-tank Climate & Company, argues any decision to reopen the already beleaguered EU Deforestation Regulation would be bad for the world’s forests and create risk for companies.
She writes in her opinion piece how deforestation-free production is possible when stakeholders along the supply chain work toreceiveher, and how ambitious EU regulation can drive innovation and capacity building, while reducing deforestation effectively.
“Legal certainty is a foundation for competitiveness,” adds Simon. “Reopening the EUDR would create the opposite: regulatory instability . . . [and] could undo years of progress, penalising frontrunners and innovators.”
Bad for business: undermining the 2040 tarreceive
Von der Leyen also insisted in Wednesday’s speech on the required for ambitious 2040 emissions reduction tarreceives. But receiveting agreement on them is becoming increasingly complicated as France leads demands for further neobtainediations on the tarreceive, which could lead to delay and ultimately to the planned 90 per cent decrease in emissions being watered down.
We Mean Business Coalition chief executive Maria Mfinishiluce warns such uncertainty is bad for business. Undermining the 2040 tarreceive would sfinish the “worst possible signal: that Europe is stepping back just as others step up”, she writes.
“Business leaders also know that delays cost more,” states Mfinishiluce. “Volatile fossil prices, climate-related disruption, and investor uncertainty all hit the bottom line. Without clear and consistent policy, the cost of capital for energy-intensive sectors seeking to transition will be higher. Fragmented policy means slower permitting, weaker grids and stranded investments.”
When first elected in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron promised France would be “active and mindful of peace, of the balance of power, of international co-operation, of respect for the commitments built on development and the fight against global warming”.
Some of the challenges facing the world “are opportunities, such as the digital revolution, the ecological transition, Europe’s recovery”, he added. “Others are threats, such as terrorism.”
Eight years later, as France and the world become more and more fractured and the 10-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement looms, Macron appears to be seeing the ecological transition as more of a threat than an opportunity.
Until tomorrow,
Philippa
Philippa Nuttall is the editor of Sustainable Views
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