Climate crisis must be tackled without resorting to degrowth, says MEP
The EU is a 'beacon of stability' when it comes to climate policy on the world stage, said MEP Lídia Pereira on Thursday.
Speaking at the Brussels' Economic Forum, the member of the European People's Party (EPP) said that the bloc must not resort to 'dangerous' solutions when tackling the climate crisis.
'If we want to find solutions, we have to find solutions with the moderates,' she said.
Pereira was responding to an argument for degrowth, proposed at the forum by Timothée Parrique, an economist and researcher at HEC Lausanne.
'This [degrowth] is not a political statement… this is a scientific reality that we have to grapple with,' Parrique said.
'There is no point being first when you're going in the wrong direction…economic growth has lost all correlation with quality of life.'
He continued: 'I can tell you with confidence wealth is not trickling down and pollution is not trickling out.'
The theory of degrowth, which has been around since the 1970s, warns against continual economic growth and instead advocates for economic shrinking. Proponents argue that the world doesn't have enough resources to make endless growth a realistic goal, meaning we need to scale back our consumption.
Although supported by some eminent academics, critics argue that degrowth would massively destabilise the interconnected global economy, resulting in unemployment and deepening inequality. They also argue that it's a tough political sell.
Related
OECD trims eurozone growth outlook as global trade tensions bite
'Where conflict, poverty and climate collide': Number of internally displaced people tops 80 million
Even so, 'the costs of action are much lower than the cost of inaction,' stressed Parrique on Thursday, noting that growth-focused policies will have a 'huge drawback' in the long term. He suggested that public figures should do more to promote public awareness around this.
Lídia Pereira argued that the green transition can go hand in hand with the EU's push to become more competitive.
She pointed to subsidies in China and the US, notably former President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and said that Europe must do more to foster 'strategic autonomy in clean technologies'.
This is currently held back by a lack of progress on a fully-integrated capital market in the EU, she said. As a result, companies can't get their hands on the capital they need to compete on a global scale. Country-specific laws are still a hindrance to cross-border funding, forcing companies to be more reliant on banks, rather than private investors, for loans.
The EU is aiming to be climate neutral by 2050 and member states have specific strategies on how they plan to achieve this.
Pereira suggested that Europe could act as a pioneer for other economies when it comes to fulfilling climate commitments, which are becoming ever-more urgent.
This comes as, across the Atlantic, the US administration is pulling economic resources from initiatives designed to support the green transition.
Donald Trump in January signed an order to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement for the second time. The president is also pushing for a renewed focus on fossil fuels, as opposed to renewable technologies, and is rolling back elements of the IRA.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Second Georgian opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention as crackdown widens
By Felix Light TBILISI (Reuters) -A Georgian court on Friday placed Nika Melia, a leader of the country's main opposition party, in pre-trial detention, amid a widening crackdown against a pro-Western opposition that has staged months of anti-government protests. Melia, a top leader of the Coalition for Change opposition bloc, was detained on Thursday for refusing to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into alleged crimes committed under jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili between 2004 and 2012. The length of the detention was not immediately clear. Last week, a judge placed another leader of the Coalition for Change, Zurab Japaridze, in pre-trial detention for refusing to appear before the inquiry. Friday's hearing was disorderly, with Melia sentenced after being removed from the courtroom for throwing water at the judge from the dock. Previously one of the most pro-Western and democratic of the Soviet Union's successor states, Georgia under the leadership of the Georgian Dream party is accused by the ruling bloc's critics of moving in an authoritarian and pro-Russian direction. Georgian Dream says it still wants the country to eventually join the European Union but wants to preserve what it calls Georgia's traditional values and also to avoid conflict with Russia, its giant neighbour and former imperial ruler. Separately on Friday, another judge jailed a 19-year-old student activist for 12 days for insulting a Georgian Dream lawmaker she had called a "Russian slave" in a cafe this month. Georgian Dream, after winning an election last November that the opposition says was rigged, said it would halt talks on joining the EU till 2028. EU membership has wide support among Georgians and the goal has been enshrined in the constitution. The ruling party's decision to suspend the talks sparked mass street protests, prompting a violent crackdown and large-scale arrests by security forces. Georgian Dream is dominated by billionaire ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is widely seen as Georgia's de facto leader. In December, the United States sanctioned Ivanishvili for what it said were actions aimed at dismantling Georgian democracy for the benefit of Russia.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer: Very concerned with Chinese non-compliance on trade agreement
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest on the U.S. federal trade court's tariff ruling, impact on U.S. trade negotiations, state of U.S.-China negotiations, EU trade barriers, and more.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bank of England governor urges UK to rebuild EU trade ties as key summit looms
The governor of the Bank of England has said that the UK now needs to do everything it can to rebuild its long-term trade relationship with the EU, after a breakthrough agreement with the US to reduce some of Donald Trump's tariffs. Andrew Bailey said that, while he would not pass judgment on the UK's exit from the EU in early 2020, reversing the trade impact of Brexit would be 'beneficial'. The government is in talks with the EU – after moves by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to 'reset' trade relations since Labour came to power last year – before a summit in London in 10 days' time where a new UK-EU partnership is expected to be unveiled. 'Having a more open economy to trade with the European Union … would be beneficial,' Bailey told the BBC, 'because there has been a fall-off in goods trade with the EU over recent years.' The EU remains the UK's largest trading partner, but in sectors such as food and drink exports have fallen by more than a third since Brexit. 'It is important we do everything we can to ensure that whatever decisions are taken on the Brexit front do not damage the long-term trade position,' said Bailey. 'So I hope that we can use this to start to rebuild that relationship.' Earlier this week, the UK agreed a long-desired trade deal with India. Starmer described the agreement, which took more than three years of negotiations under successive governments, as a 'landmark deal' that would cut tariffs and add £4.8bn a year to the UK economy by 2040. Bailey said the UK's deal-making was setting an important example to other countries. 'It demonstrates that trade deals are important,' he said. 'Trade deals can be done, and the trade is important … Honestly, it seems an unpromising landscape at times. But I hope that we can use these deals to rebuild the world trading system.' The UK-US deal would benefit trade, even though tariffs on most British exports to the US would remain higher than they were before last month, he said later at an economics conference in Reykjavík, Iceland. He aded: 'It's good news in a world where it will leave the effective tariff rate higher than it was before all of this started.' Speaking at a conference hosted by the Icelandic central bank, Bailey said Threadneedle Street needed to be 'nimble' in its response to developments in the global economy, especially as countries reacted to the increase in US import tariffs. He said the Bank had maintained a target for inflation of 2% in good times and bad and proved to the public that the aim could be achieved in all economic weathers. Bailey said: 'We need no reminder that the global economic environment is likely to continue to be challenging – and less predictable – than it was in the past. 'So we need to adapt and develop to ensure that our processes are nimble and robust, and that our monetary policy decisions are communicated effectively, while ensuring that we continue to act methodically in response to inflationary pressures.' On Thursday, the Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% to cushion the UK economy against the impact of rising global economic uncertainty. The narrative from the Bank's monetary policy committee, which accompanied the decision, indicated a reluctance to make further rate cuts without greater certainty that inflation would fall back to 2% within the next two years. Inflation stood at 2.6% in March and is predicted to rise later this year. Business groups and unions said they were dismayed that further rate cuts may not be imminent. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and the TUC said that the Bank's economists underplayed the downturn and the need for cheaper borrowing to boost growth. David Bharier, head of research at the BCC, said surveys showed small and medium-sized businesses' confidence had fallen in response to 'the twin developments of domestic tax rises and a global trade war'. He said: 'Many firms, desperate for financial respite, will be keen to see further rate cuts in the months ahead.' The TUC said households needed greater support from lower interest rates. Sign in to access your portfolio
