Media Partnership: Can the EU foster a global green transition? The international implications of achieving the EU Green Deal

Euractiv Partner Content

For the European Green Deal to succeed, the EU must foster sustainable economic systems and societal wellbeing across the planet. Positive system change is essential to avoid climate and environmental disaster, and the best chance of making it happen is through serious implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD) and the Sustainable Development Goals. But the EU cannot achieve sustainability on just one continent, given the web of interdependencies in the globalised economy. Decarbonisation and dematerialisation of wealthy economies will have profound effects in other regions, requiring Europe to reimagine most of its trade relationships and create more equal partnerships.

Current debates on EGD implementation hardly consider its global implications. A new report, International System Change Compass: The Global Implications of Achieving the European Green Deal, takes up that task. It unpacks the global interdependencies affected by EGD implementation; points to the collaborative efforts needed to foster sustainable economic systems, mitigate negative cross-border spill-overs, and maximize societal wellbeing; suggests how the EU could channel the investments that will be needed to help many countries on their paths to sustainability; and considers how the EU can maintain productive industry at home whilst enabling a just transition globally. At the heart of the report is the realisation that the success of the European transition is inseparably linked to the global transition.

The report sets out how a narrow focus on emissions reductions through incremental efficiency gains will lead to disaster. Such minor changes within the current economic system won’t solve the resource crisis; they won’t solve the biodiversity crisis; and they won’t address fundamental injustices across the world and within societies. Only a holistic approach toward system change that addresses the impact of Europe’s resource usage and overall consumption footprint can achieve the inclusive transition needed to save our planet and provide a fair future for us all.

At this launch event, the Open Society European Policy Institute, The Club of Rome and SYSTEMIQ presented the core findings and implications of their new report. An expert panel then reacted to the report and discussed its consequences for European policy.