If, as Virginijus Sinkevicius, the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, pointed out, “the way we design our recovery today will define our future for many decades”, the European Green Deal is set to become one of the main mechanisms to help with the recovery from the crisis and achieve a more sustainable future.

The fundamentals of the European Green Deal

The European Green Deal, formally unveiled in December 2019, is, essentially, a growth strategy to enable the European Union to attain climate neutrality by 2050. In other words, a zero-carbon footprint that will be achieved by balancing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is released with the carbon removed from the atmosphere or fixed by plants.

The following diagram provides a broad outline of the Plan.

Source: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The European Green Deal. COM(2019) 640 final

Even though many of the aspects still have to be defined and the health crisis may alter the initial work timeline, the main concepts underpinning the deal are described in the following sections.

Climate ambition, a proposal to be brought about by reducing emissions

Economic growth is compatible with reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). In fact, the European Union already had the opportunity to prove that. As the European Commission website points out, “the EU cut its emission by 23% between 1990 and 2016, while its economy grew by 53% over the same period”.

Starting from this premise, the European Commission proposes to further cut GHG emission from the initially agreed 40% by at least 50 % and, if possible by 55%, below 1990 levels by 2030. This proposal will require instruments such as the Emissions Trading System or ETS or the directives relating to changes in land use (Regulation (EU) 2018/841).

Clean affordable and secure energy, an essential factor for decarbonising the economy

The climate ambition is unachievable if no action is taken regarding the current energy model. Thus, this action will focus on 5 key points:

- Tapping into renewable energy sources, with a special focus on offshore wind power. In 2018, for example, renewable energies accounted for 18.9% of the energy consumed in the EU.
- Phasing out of coal as a resource for energy production.
- Use of renewable gases such as biogas or hydrogen.
- Prioritising energy efficiency.
- Developing smart infrastructures and solutions such as carbon capture, storage and utilisation, thus allowing activities such as steel or cement production to reduce their emissions.

Circular economy, embracing waste as a source of resources

At the time of writing, only 12 % of secondary materials and resources are brought back into the economy of the EU, as Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, stressed in March 2020.

The circular economy is the alternative to the linear one based on the extraction and trading of resources, their transformation and their elimination. Adopting this paradigm will allow:

- A sustainable product policy to be driven that will facilitate the reduction and reuse of materials prior to their recycling.
- Products to be redesigned to be more durable and simpler to repair.
- Greenwashing to be tackled.
- The volume of waste to be reduced.
- Access facilitated to resources.
- Jobs to be created and new business opportunities generated.
- Greater cooperation between the different productive sectors.
- Impetus to be given to digitalising the economy.

Energy efficiency and sustainable building, driving job creation

The housing stock of Member States is characterised by its age and lack of renovation. This circumstance means that buildings are not very efficient from an energy point of view, which is a factor hampering solutions for issues such as energy poverty. Therefore, and as part of a sustainable economy, the EU will drive a renovation plan of public and private buildings that will result in thousands of jobs being created.

This action will likewise envisage the implementation of circular economy policies in the construction sector.

Sustainable mobility, transforming the way that society moves around

Transport is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases. Therefore, driving alternatives such as multimodal transport, including freight transport, is essential.

In order to bring about this transformation, users will have to be provided with different options to encourage them to change their usual means of travel for more sustainable ones. There is no doubt that technology, in the form of automation, connectivity and the development of solutions such as “Mobility as a Service”, will be key.

From Farm to Fork, sustainability as the backbone of the food chain.

Food plays a decisive role in the level of health of a society. Therefore, the European Green Deal will propose reducing the use of pesticides, fertilisers and antibiotics. Thus, apart from increasing human wellbeing, animal welfare standards will improve. Furthermore, sustainable primary sector and which is committed to quality products will be an endorsement to promote local markets. Thanks to this type of policies showcasing locally-sourced products, the rural environment will be maintained and the abandoning of which leads to, for example, an increase in forest fires.

Fighting against food waste will be another of the “battlefields” in this action. After all, each kilo of food produced releases 4.5 kg of CO2 into the atmosphere .

Moreover, the implementation of a circular economy in the food distribution chain will allow waste to be reduced and the packaging and conservation of the products to be improved.

Preserving ecosystems and biodiversity, ensuring ecosystem services

The natural environment provides a myriad of essential resources – ranging grom air to water - on a daily basis. In fact, half the global GDP depends on nature to a great extent, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum in January 2020.

Protecting this natural capital, including new territories within the Natural 2000 Network or restoring damaged ecosystems, is fundamental to protect ecosystems. In this regard, this European agreement will place special emphasis on:

- Restoring and conserving forests, which are essential to capture carbon from the atmosphere.
- Protecting the oceans, which need to be harnessed to meet part of the demand for human resources on a planet that will have around 10 billion inhabitants by 2050.

Zero pollution for a healthy environment

Implementing the “Farm to Fork” strategy will help to limit the impact of some production practices on the natural environment.

There is also a need to address air quality, for example. According to European Society of Cardiology estimates, air pollution causes nearly 800,000 premature deaths a year in Europe. Therefore, this deal proposes a review of the current legislation on air quality. The measure will involve tightening up the emission limits to bring them into the line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Reducing the use of hazardous chemical substances and replacing them with safer and more sustainable alternatives will also be particularly important. One of the main avenues to reach this goal will be the one substance – one assessment, with an emphasis on the need for greater transparency and innovation.

Mechanisms to implement the European Green Deal

One thing is clear from the strategies described in the above sections: a huge investment will be needed to undertake the European Green Deal.

Its deployment will require a high percentage of public resources to be mobilised. It will be fundamental to increase the budgetary lines aimed at funding sustainable projects, at strengthening education and training and at driving research and innovation. This will have to be done by both the European institutions and by the Member States themselves, ultimately responsible for implementing the deal in their national policies and budgets.

Furthermore, countries with a smaller response capacity to implement a sustainable economy will have the Just Transition Fund to ensure no one is left behind. Thus, the regions and sectors most affected by the transition will have more resources to adapt their economic model to the new requirements. The new Recovery and Resilience Facility set up to provide an immediate response to the consequences of the pandemic could be included in this support framework. In fact, part of the developments outlined in return is in line with the strategies envisaged by the European Deal.

However and even though a large part of the investment will come from the public sector, the private sector is also going to play a vital role. Companies will have to understand the potential of embracing a sustainable economy and must begin to prioritise sustainable investments to meet the demands of an increasingly aware society.

The European Green Deal is, in short, a commitment to the future, an opportunity to achieve a sustainable economy that will reward society by allowing future generations to meet their needs, for Europe to lead the fight against climate change and to drive cooperation between the different countries. Yet it is also a lifeline for the European Union to bounce back from the socio-economic crisis in which it has been plunged as the result of the coronavirus. It will be, to quote Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, “Europe’s man on the moon moment”.