Europe Rolls Out Ambitious Climate Change Plan, but Obstacles Loom

The carbon border tax could not only shake up global trade and invite disputes over protectionism, but it could also create new diplomatic fault lines ahead of the Glasgow talks.

The gathering is an important moment for big polluting nations to show what they will do to address the emissions of greenhouse gases that have set the world on a path to dangerous warming. All eyes are on targets set by the United States and China, which currently produce the largest share of greenhouse gases.

Although the European Union produces only about 8 percent of current global carbon emissions, its cumulative emissions since the start of the industrial age are among the world’s highest. But as a huge market, it also sees itself as an important regulatory power for the world and hopes to set an example, invent new technologies that it can sell, and provide new global standards that can lead to a carbon-neutral economy.

“Europe was the first continent to declare to be climate neutral in 2050, and now we are the very first ones to put a concrete road map on the table,” Ms. von der Leyen said.

Some analysts said that while the carbon border tax would impose new tariffs on imports, the proposals did not do enough to help developing countries shift their economies away from fossil fuels. Others said that the proposed tax on jet fuel applies only to flights inside the European Union, and leaves 60 percent of fuel sales exempt.

Andrew Murphy, aviation director at the advocacy group Transport Environment, said that “by not removing the tax exemption for flights outside of the E.U. it still lets the majority off the hook.”

The Commission’s executive vice president, Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of the environment and Europe’s “Green Deal,” admits the difficulty of the challenge. “We’re going to ask a lot of our citizens,” he said. “We’re also going to ask a lot of our industries, but we do it for good cause. We do it to give humanity a fighting chance.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/world/europe/climate-change-carbon-green-new-deal.html