'EU has given in to the right's green-bashing', says columnist
"Once a global leader on climate action, the EU has given in to the right’s green-bashing", 14 November 2025
...The Paris climate agreement paved the way for the European Green Deal in 2019, which enshrined into law the ambition of climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 and introduced the world’s first comprehensive plan to achieve it, featuring a robust set of pricing, regulatory and funding measures.
As Hannah Arendt observed decades ago, the more falsehoods are repeated, the more they harden into convictions. Bashing of the Green Deal spread from the political fringes and polluted the centre-right, amplified externally by pressure from the Trump administration and leading gas exporters such as Qatar.... Today, the Green Deal has vanished from the European lexicon, replaced with “competitiveness”, “technological neutrality” and “bureaucratic simplification” alongside defence...
Unsurprisingly, far-right governments in Italy and central and eastern Europe have led the push for retreat. The EU has also delayed the expansion of its emissions trading scheme to homes and transport, as well as the implementation of its deforestation regulation. It may yet delay or dilute its 2035 ban on new combustion engine cars. Further rollbacks are expected under the guise of bureaucratic simplification, with its “omnibus package” set to undermine sustainability, due diligence and, among other measures, the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
Much of this amounts to Europe shooting itself in the foot. When the EU championed climate leadership, it did so not only out of idealism but also because, as a fossil-fuel-poor continent, its energy security and prosperity depended on it. This is precisely why China, also a hydrocarbon importer, followed Europe’s lead in advancing renewables and green technologies. Yet, while China accelerates its efforts, Europe risks slowing down, seemingly forgetting that climate principles and economic prosperity are intertwined...
Not all is lost. Europe remains at the forefront of the journey towards net zero in terms of targets, policies and finance. But its self-interest remains in leading the charge in advancing climate action and once again finding political common cause with the global south.