If you look at the negotiations in Belém at COP30, there were detractors who said that the EU was hypocritical when it put pressure on other countries to have a clear plan to phase out fossil fuels. Those detractors are now getting their money's worth, says Björn-Ola Linnér, who is a professor of international climate policy at Linköping University.
Just a few weeks after the climate negotiations, the EU is backing away from its own action plan to phase out fossil fuels, he continues.
He says that “it shows the power of the lobby.”
It's difficult to change society, there are enormously strong interests that are being challenged. All this ambiguity and wavering creates uncertainty.
Does it benefit China?
In the long term, says Björn-Ola Linnér, the turnaround will also benefit China.
They are at least better at getting the electric car market going, even though there are many other things they are not good at when it comes to climate change. I can't see anything other than them getting a competitive advantage from this, unless the European industry is able to adapt.
Volvo Cars announced in a statement that “the future of the automotive industry is electric” and that “electric cars are the only segment of the automotive industry that is growing.” The automaker continued: “Backtracking on long-term commitments in favor of short-term gains risks undermining Europe’s competitiveness for many years to come.”
“No jerkiness and loopholes”
Sweden's Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari (L) is skeptical about the EU Commission's proposal.
"To transform and strengthen their competitiveness, our companies need stable, long-term and predictable rules – not jerkiness and loopholes," says Pourmokhtari in a written comment to TT.
However, she says that setting a target of 90 percent emissions reductions is “positive.”
"If designed correctly, this could give a boost to electrification and to Swedish industry," writes Pourmokhtari.
The Social Democrats' climate and environmental policy spokesperson Åsa Westlund is dissatisfied. She says in a written comment to TT that it is "bad news both for the climate and for those parts of the industry that are at the forefront of the green transition, which many Swedish companies are doing".
