Europe’s Green Transition Risks Becoming a Victim of the Global Pandemic
Just three months old, the bloc’s net zero strategy is off to a difficult start.
Coal sits inside the sealed storage dome at at Enel SpA's Torrevaldaliga Nord thermoelectric coal-fired power station in Civitavecchia, Italy.
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
Before the pandemic halted daily life and shattered economies, the European Union had set a course for a difficult re-invention. By 2050, the bloc had decreed, under the banner of its Green Deal, there would be no net greenhouse gas emissions from the entire continent. The announcement Wednesday that the COP26 climate summit, which had been scheduled for November in Glasgow, would be cancelled due to the novel coronavirus only underscores what had already become readily apparent. Europe’s commitment to meeting its energy goals—and to the prioritization of climate-friendly policies at all costs—is being tested.
It’s already clear that the threat posed by the virus isn’t so different from the looming impacts of climate change. Both are what economists call exogenous shocks, factors that re-shape a system from without. Finding ways to suppress such shocks—say, through stimulus programs with green incentives—will be key to avoiding future downward spirals. Bailouts in one crisis can help remake entire industries and economies in preparation for the next.