Introduction:

There was a disappointing outcome of the annual climate talks which were held in Madrid. The
only major agenda was to define the rules of a new carbon market to be set up under the Paris
agreement. But the talks were unable to define the rules nor were able convince the participating
countries to commit to increase the scale of climate action. The European Union, which consists
of 28 member countries, are together the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world
after China and the United States. The EU came up with an announcement on additional
measures it would do to deal with climate change. This was called the European Green Deal.
Nothing like this has been attempted before. Ever since the industrial revolution, progress has
been synonymous with ruthless exploitation as well as destruction of the natural world. Humans
are filling the atmosphere with carbon through greenhouse gasses emission and the oceans as
well as seas with plastic waste. The announcement made by the EU was hailed and was
considered a major step forward. Even though the EU needed complementary efforts to make a
significant impact from the other countries.

Green Deal:

The European Green deal is a synchronized set of policies and legislation aimed to lower the
European Union’s global warming emissions to zero over the next 30 years. The main aim of the
European Green Deal is transforming the whole of Europe from a High carbon economy to a low
carbon economy. The transformation while happening should not reduce prosperity. The
European economy will have to be refurbished. There should be change from energy generation
to food consumption, from transport to manufacturing and construction. There was emphasis on
improving quality life of the people through cleaner air and water, by providing better health and
most importantly a flourishing natural world. The deal covers every facet of society as well as
the economy. It's a step-by-step method which is spread over a span of two decades of work.

Importance of Green Deal:

The European Green Deal is a new growth strategy which aims to alter the European Union into
a competitive economy. The goal is to achieve economic growth by dissociating it from resource
use. The European Green Deal will enhance the efficient as well as effective use of resources by
moving towards a clean economy. This will help to restore biodiversity and reduce pollution.

Various policies implemented by Green Deal:

Because of its enormous goals, the EU Green Deal is incredibly complex. It’s a massive and
intricate collection of policies: new and updated regulations, incentives for encouraging private
sector investment, and action plans for specific goals and focused areas of policy.
The European Green deal was first presented in December 2019 by Ursula Von Der Leyen.
Many major companies have backed the European Green deal. It has also been strongly backed
by many governments of countries. The European Green deal has lot of objectives, but main
objectives are:

● To make the EU the first climate neutral continent by 2050.

● To protect biodiversity by reducing the pollution level.
● Contributing to guarantee a fair and integrated transition.
● Converting the agriculture and rural region.

Elements of Green Deal:

To meet the objectives of the Green Deal, the European Union has implemented or is in the
process of implementation of various policies. such as: -

Sustainable industry

Now the industrial sector accounts for 20% of EU greenhouse gas emissions. The plan which has
been adopted by the EU to increase the time span of a product is a circular economy action plan
to alleviate pressure on natural resources. The main aim for the adoption of EU industrial
strategy is to grow the markets for climate neutral and circular products and to encourage the
digital transition in the EU. These measures are held necessary by the EU green deal and are also
said to be very much necessary to ensure the supply of the critical raw materials needed for clean
technologies such as clean hydrogen, energy storage etc.

Clean energy

The production and use of energy across economic sectors presently accounts for more than 75%
of the EU greenhouse gas emission. The policies under the clean energy target to reduce the 75%
figure with development of the power sector based mostly on renewable sources and an
interconnected, unified and digitalised EU energy market. One of the policies is offshore
renewable energy strategy. This policy should increase the EU offshore wind capacity from its
current level 28 GW to around 300 GW. A clean energy for all European package is brought in
by the EU to facilitate the strategy for energy system integration, which will thereby improve the
coordination of planning and operation of the energy system.

Efficient construction

The buildings alone are responsible for 40% of the EU energy consumption. One of the
objectives of the green deal is to have a cleaner building and construction sector. For which one
of the strategies brought in by the EU is the Renovation wave which upgrades the buildings to
increase their energy efficiency. One of the priorities for the EU commission is to increase the
energy efficiency in buildings. The EU released a construction product strategy in 2013. This
strategy sets the requirements for construction products in the internal market. This strategy is
being revised because a revised regulation has a potential to promote environmental goals.

Eliminating pollution

The main and the largest environmental cause for physical and mental diseases is pollution. The
EU has put forward a zero-pollution action plan. This plan proposes that pollution elimination
measures are incorporated into all policy to further decouple economic growth from the increase
of pollution. This plan has three headline actions: -

Chemical strategy for sustainability.

Zero pollution action plan for water, air and soil.

Revision of various measures to address pollution from large industrial installations.

The EU is also set to revise regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

Farm to fork

Food systems are responsible for around 21%-37% of the greenhouse gas around the world and
these food systems can use up significant natural resources. The objective of farm and fork
strategy is to resolve these environmental issues and also the sustainability of the food system.
This strategy could spend upwards of 8-10 billion on research and innovation of the food system.
The commission is seeking commitments from food companies and organizations to take various
steps towards improving health, sustainability and the environment.

Sustainable mobility

This policy area focuses on initiatives to reduce transport emissions, which account for 25% of
the EU greenhouse gas emissions. The strategy adopted by the EU is sustainability and smart
mobility which lays down the foundation for transformation of the EU transport sector. The aim
is to cut down 90% emission by 2050, delivered with a smart, safe, competitive, and affordable
transport system. There have been several proposals being considered for revision of legislation
to meet the objective set by this strategy. The revision would require stricter emission standards
for road vehicles. The EU has also planned to revise the regulation on the trans european
transport network and of the directive on intelligent transport systems. This aims to increase the
number of zero emission vehicles. The use of batteries will be very essential for electric vehicles
for this EU policy is focused on a sustainable battery supply chain covering the entire battery
life-cycle, and also involving recycling and re-use.

Preserving biodiversity
In the past 50 years wild species population has fallen by 68% due activities conducted by
humans. The strategy brought in by the commission to identify the key drivers in biodiversity
loss is EU biodiversity strategy. Climate change is linked to biodiversity loss and nature based
solutions will play a key role in mitigating climate change. This strategy will work alongside the
farm and fork strategy mainly focussing on restoring forests, soils and wetlands and creating
green spaces in cities. The EU is focussing on legislative gaps that hinder improving biodiversity
standard and has implemented a biodiversity governance framework on 15 december 2021.
These governance frameworks include imposing binding legal nature restoration targets to
restore ecosystems which have been degraded over the years. Around 15 to 20 billion per year
will be required to fund biodiversity strategy.

Measures against climate change:

The war of Climate change can be a battle of medium and long term. The efforts of everyone
along with adequate improvement and change which were proposed by the UN is needed to
minimize the damage and promote more sustainable development.

Measures taken to improve climate change

• Develop energy efficiency with an aim on renewable resources.

• Promote public transport which will help to sustain mobility.

• Promote responsible consumption of resources while promoting industry, agriculture,

fishing and ecological stock breeding.

• Taxation on the use of some fuels through medium of green taxes.

Measures to adjust to climate change

• The infrastructure and building should be safe and at the same time environment friendly.

• Forests need to be revived while damaged ecosystems are restored.

• Expand the variety of crops which will help to alter better to changing climates.

• Using advanced technology for prevention and management of natural disasters.

Noteworthy milestones of the European Green Deal:

• The European Climate La: It has made the EU’s 55% emissions reduction targets legally
binding for member states.
• The EU Renovation Wave: This has predicted the revamp by 2050 of 220 million
buildings, to increase their environmental performances while generating costs savings for
households.

• The EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices: It has
been signed by 65 organizations to increase the availability and affordability of healthy and
sustainable food options.

• The EU Action Plan Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil: The aims of this
action plan is to reduce premature deaths due to air pollution by 55%, plastic litter in the sea by
50% and residual municipal waste by 50%, among other changes by 2030.

• The EU strategy on Adaptation and Climate Chang: The main objective behind this
strategy is to reinforce the adaptive capacity of the EU and minimize vulnerability to climate
change.

Impact of green deal on Industry:

The EU is committed to a change in policy direction towards more sustainability through the
European Green Deal. The single market and economic and monetary union had enhanced
economic sustainability, promoting efficiency through the competitiveness rationale in the single
market which benefits a single currency.

Since 1990 Europe has cut emissions by roughly one quarter. The impact is good but nowhere
near to put it on track to achieve net zero by mid-century.

Financial Industry

The financial industry needs to invest more effort in order to promote and secure sustainable
investments with increased regulation and subsidization. There will be a rise in activities among
the firms who are specialized in the financial industry.

Real Economy Industries

The industry in the real economy sector which was predicted to be severely affected are the
energy, transportation, building and food sectors. The most affected sector due to transition to
clean energy is the energy sector. It is also predicted that transportation and building industries
will also be severely impacted as there will be changing to electric-powered vehicles with
supporting infrastructure and adapting structures for climate-proofing and energy efficiency.
Sustainability will be a main factor in the future of the food and agriculture sectors.
Conclusion:

It's early to give a conclusion about the European Green Deal. But one can still understand that
the European Green Deal has seemed to gain importance as a vital pillar of the economic model
of the European Union. The Green Deal is trying to bring the whole of Europe into a single
market system. The initial development which has been caused due to the Green Deal represents
a qualitative change in the governance system of the European Union.