A growing ‘greenlash’ against Europe’s environmental agenda has so far failed to derail its decarbonization 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 into law and proposing policies to slash emissions this decade. [emphasis, links added]
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 [fertilizer] 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 [of politicians] 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 about 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. …
“The elections to the European Parliament next year will be very decisive if one looks further ahead because the center-right group is turning more negative to green policies,” the European Council on Foreign Relations Mats Engström said.
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With many in Europe getting red up with those annoying Climate Activists blocking the Roads with Farms being closed and Animals killed to appease the UN/CFR Globalists wit the WEF wanting to take away our Cars and force us all into Mass Transit and Beehive Apartments all over a totally fake threat were seeing a Backlash against the Deep Ecologists are their Back to Nature Movement a movement against the radical plans of the Eco Freaks
The UK’ s output of greenhouse gases including CO2 is trivial.
Why do the authorities an alarmists not recognise that, or do they?
Because it’s not about reducing CO2 levels but to control the population.