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Biden administration marks US return to international climate leadership this week with ambitious plans halve greenhouse gas emissionsBy 2030. But the move also renewed some old breakdowns.
Climate targets put the US on par with the EU, which closed a-week conditions this week European legislation which commits the bloc to a decline of at least 55 percent over the decade, compared to 1990 levels. The US target is based on 2005 emission levels.
While happy in Europe, the return of the US climate masks divergent views between the two economic powers on how to win the so-called zero-flame race.
“Americans have a strategy based on the development of new technologies,” French Environment Minister Barbara Pompili told FT this week. “It’s great that we’re developing hydrogen and capturing carbon. But I think we have an additional component in France and Europe. We go beyond that because we are also looking at our own ways of life. “
EU officials are also quick to point out what they see as a gap in US strategy, new green technologies and reliance on private sector innovation and investment to radically reduce emissions.
“I am really optimistic. I believe in our invention, “US Presidential Climate Representative John Kerry said Thursday after the first day of the US-led climate summit, which brought together leaders from 40 countries Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, as well as freshmen. Climate commitments Japan, Canada and the South Korea.
Kerry said he hoped the U.S. would surpass the 2030 target behind as yet undeveloped technological advances, such as the capture and storage of hydrogen green energy, batteries, and carbon.
“We are the country that went to the moon. When President Kennedy announced the goal we didn’t know how we were going to get there, but we got it, ”the former secretary of state said.
Climate activists with disappearing rebels protest Joe Biden’s intention to halve US emissions by 2030, believing it is “too little, too late” near the White House on Thursday © Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
EU officials have acknowledged that the US can make much more investment in green technologies compared to the 27-country bloc, where spending is still determined at the national level.
But the U.S.’s “techno-optimism” contrasts sharply with the EU’s diverse approach, which mixes the bloc’s regulatory capacity and investment in energy innovations, an advanced carbon pricing system, to drive consumer changes needed to cut emissions dramatically. .
The EU used Trump for years to establish itself as the world’s leading superpower. The Brussels climate law sets out its binding goal of achieving zero net emissions by 2050, and if it achieves this, it would become the first continent in the world to achieve an EU milestone.
In the coming months, Brussels will introduce green legislation to “adjust the block to 55 per cent” by 2030. The law will address car emissions targets and renewable energy for building renovations, as part of the European Green Agreement. it has been said that it is an industrial policy to revive the post-pandemic economy.
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-chair of the Rome Club, said the EU’s climate strategy is a “systems approach” that seeks to bring together almost every sector of the economy. “The US has always been driven by markets, and not just the Biden administration. They are missing a trick based on not focusing the economy beyond the use of technological levers.” he says.
U.S. policy analysts agree that America is still pursuing a climate policy, although Biden administration officials have stressed that the vast technological gains ensure that not too much land has been lost during Trump’s years.
“The key difference is that many European countries have adopted climate legislation, which gives them much more authority to design and implement policies in line with international commitments,” says Kelly Sims Gallagher, Obama’s former White House chief aide in the 2014 U.S. negotiations. -China climate agreement. “The US does not have this comprehensive legislation and has instead pursued a patchwork approach with limited authority.”
“[The Biden Administration] perhaps it is underestimating the skepticism of the international community that the US can get back on track with its domestic policy. “
One of the biggest starting points between the two powers is Europe’s embrace of carbon prices through the market-based Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which underpins the European decarbonisation plan.
On the left, Joe Biden gives notes next to John Kerry in the eastern room of the White House during the Virtual Climate Leaders Summit © Anna Moneymaker / Pool / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The ETS was created in the 2000s to shift to greener energy sources to ignite heavy pollutants, forcing the purchase of carbon offsets to offset emissions. The capital and trade plan will receive a radical expansion including new sectors such as maritime transport, automobiles and buildings, and further changes in the business models of European industry. It is expected that investors will move the price of carbon to new records this week by more than 40 euros per tonne.
However, this market-based system has not received federal support in the United States, although it has taken on a smaller carbon trading scheme in California, and to a lesser extent in northeastern states such as New York and Maryland.
“If Americans don’t have a carbon pricing system, the only alternative is a carbon tax and that’s political suicide,” the EU senior official said.
Claiming that the US is entrenched in regulation in Europe, EU officials said ETS has proven to be a successful market-based solution, with over-regulation and the imposition of strict rules in areas such as energy efficiency.
“We’re not surprised why the U.S. is allergic and we don’t think they really thought so,” the official added.
Tensions over US carbon prices in the European Union are rising in the most contentious area: the Brussels-imposed carbon limit adjustment tax is designed to suppress taxes on imports from countries with no equivalent carbon pricing mechanism.
Kerry has maintained his European efforts to join the scheme in Europe, warning that it should only be used as a “last resort”. The Commission’s proposal will be presented in June.
It is likely that divergent climate philosophies will remain due to the different political landscapes in the US and the EU. Despite the distribution of energy policy among the 27 EU member states, all have signed a zero-net target and the need for decarbonisation.
In contrast, U.S. environmental policy catches the crossfire of highly polarized political parties with supportive Democrats and resilient Republicans, the Dixson-Declève Club of Rome said.
Jeff Colgan, an associate professor in the climate solutions lab at Brown University, said Europe “would not expect” the US to continue the policy mix seen in the UK and the EU. “The US has a different policy and Biden needs to follow the art of what is possible to achieve good climate policies.”
Additional news from James Politi in Washington
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