The European Commission published its proposal for an EU raw materials initiative (Critical Raw Materials Act, CRMA) in March 2023. The proposal contains plans to open new mines in Europe and to utilize minerals found in the waste materials of closed mines. Permitting procedures for new mines are additionally proposed to be shortened, and mining companies will be required to report their environmental footprints to the EU. The European Parliament approved the Act last September. To scrutinize the proposed Act, along with its implications to mining practices and our planetary boundaries, we held a seminar series with invited experts during autumn 2023.

The seminar series revolved around crucial questions that are expected to fundamentally shape our future: do we have enough minerals in the world for a green transition? What will be the environmental impact of increasing the number of mines? Is circular economy the solution, or should we reduce our consumption?

Europe depends on imported critical raw materials for its green transition

The autumn seminars were kicked off with a thoroughly informative presentation by Henna Virkkunen, Member of The European Parliament (MEP), working on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). MEP Virkkunen laid out the facts: the EU is currently dependent on China when it comes to critical raw materials. While Europeans consume around 20% of the world’s critical raw materials, only approximately 2% are produced in Europe. The proposed Act supports the plan to shift this balance towards a more self-sufficient and supply-secure future. The audience raised concerns about environmental safety and environmental degradation due to the increasing volume of mining, especially considering the simplified permitting process for critical raw material projects.

Tackling biodiversity loss while increasing mining is a conundrum

Transitioning from a fossil fuel-based economy is argued to be dependent on mining more (critical) raw materials. But how to do it sustainably with minimal environmental damage, and how well are natural values considered in the short and long term when decisions are made regarding new mines? The Chairman of the Finnish Nature Panel Professor Janne Kotiaho, from the University of Jyväskylä, and environmental activist Riikka Karppinen from Sodankylä further reflected on these questions.

Professor Kotiaho’s message was grimly realistic: biodiversity loss continues at an accelerated rate in both Europe and Finland, and we are all responsible for it. He argued that at the current state of affairs, to truly halt biodiversity and nature loss, we need to implement restorative, nature-positive solutions instead of solutions based on the principle of no net loss. Karppinen expressed shock and discontent regarding the aims to facilitate the opening of new mines in currently protected areas in the name of a green transition. Karppinen has frequently spoken out against a global mining company that is planning on opening a new nickel mine near her home in an area protected by Finnish law and the EU Natura framework. During her presentation, she kindly shared her experiences regarding the residents’ struggles.

The critical raw materials are not renewable

The green transition’s burden on the natural environment may indeed be enormous. But do we have enough materials to fully shift to renewables, or are we about to reach the limits of the planet’s boundaries? Research Professor Simon Michaux, from the Finnish Geological Survey, provided astounding figures on the amounts of minerals actually required for the green transition. According to his estimates, at current energy use rates, we simply do not have enough minerals in the world to fully shift to renewables, and in fact, minerals are “the new oil”. Professor Michaux’s presentation left us thinking: if we do not have enough materials in the world to substitute fossil fuels with renewables, are our current consumption patterns simply doomed?

To better understand how the new Critical Raw Materials Act may look like in Finland, we listened to a presentation by Jarkko Vesa, Special Advisor at the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. He provided a thorough overview on how the implementation process began. As the Director of Sustainable Development of the mining company Terrafame, Veli-Matti Hilla further underscored: it is clear that mining has received a substantial boost from the EU institutes.

A mix of solutions is needed for a sustainable future

Director Lasse Miettinen from Sitra gave the closing presentation to our seminar series, and it ended on a rather optimistic note. He argued – in line with most of our presenters, along with our own concerns – that we are currently exceeding the limits of our planet. To imagine a more sustainable future, we need to learn to think about ecosystems in a more nuanced and interconnected way. The climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and natural resource depletion cannot be solved separately. Both biotic and abiotic resources are part of nature and managing them should be reframed accordingly. Director Miettinen argued that transitioning to a circular economy is a crucial part and precondition of the solution to our multiple crises. To reduce supply risks and ensure positive environmental outcomes, we need circular solutions, diversified supplies, and more local production beside aiming for sustainable lifestyles and biodiversity offsets. He encouraged us to think that building a more sustainable future is indeed possible.

Professor of Practice in Environmental Responsibility and Chair of the seminar series, Hannele Pokka further noted that while observing how mining in Finland has developed over the years, ordinary people tend to support mining but under no circumstances do they want a mine near their homes. Finland is an old mining country, and minerals have been extracted from the land for hundreds of years. Public opinion in Finland has taken a more critical stance on mining in recent years, which has been reinforced by the Talvivaara mine environmental disaster. It has been difficult for new mining projects to gain social acceptance, and several mining projects, especially in Northern Finland are pending. If mining companies want to seek approval for their projects, mining should be reformed to incorporate a more comprehensive notion of sustainability, including new approaches and technological solutions in water management.

The seminar series, above all, taught us that what used to be possible in mining is not so any longer, and we need drastic changes to remain within our planetary boundaries.

Seminar recordings and further reading materials are available via the links embedded in the text.

Source: Mirage News

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BRUSSELS — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is threatening to block all European Union aid for Ukraine, as well as the country’s future accession to the bloc, unless EU leaders agree to review their entire strategy of support for Kyiv, according to a letter seen by POLITICO.

In the letter, addressed to European Council chief Charles Michel, the Hungarian leader says that no decision on funding for Ukraine, the opening of accession talks to the EU, or further sanctions against Russia can be taken until this “strategic discussion” happens when leaders gather in Brussels in mid-December.

“The European Council should take stock of the implementation and effectiveness of our current policies towards Ukraine including various assistance programs,” Orban writes in the letter, which is undated but bears the stamp of his office.

He also asks why Europe should continue to support Ukraine at a time when the United States, which has provided the bulk of military aid for Kyiv, may not be able to continue funding due to partisan deadlock over future support.

“The European Council must have a frank and open discussion on the feasibility of the EU’s strategic objectives in Ukraine,” the letter states.

“Do we still regard these objectives realistically attainable? Is this strategy sustainable without robust support from the United States? Can we take continuing support from the United States for granted? How do we conceive the security architecture of Europe after the war,” it goes on.

It adds that “the European Council is not in a position to make key decisions on the proposed security guarantees or additional financial support for Ukraine, endorse further strengthening of the EU sanctions regime or agree on the future of the enlargement process unless a consensus on our future strategy towards Ukraine is found.”

Working around Hungary

Orbán’s letter raises the stakes in a long-running standoff between Budapest and Brussels, which is holding back €13 billion in EU funds for Hungary over concerns that the country is falling afoul of the EU’s standards on rule-of-law.

Without saying so directly, the letter suggests that Budapest could use its veto power to block the disbursement of a planned €50 billion in aid for Ukraine — money that’s needed to fund the Ukrainian government while its armed forces fight back against a full-scale Russian invasion.

In addition to the €50 billion, Orban is threatening to block €500 million in planned military aid for Ukraine, as well as the opening of formal negotiations for Kyiv to join the 27-member union, which leaders were hoping to approve at the next gathering of the European Council on December 14 and 15.

According to one EU diplomat who was granted anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations, Orbán has “booby-trapped” the entire EU decision-making process on Ukraine as part of a strategy to raise pressure on the European Commission to release the €13 billion to Hungary.

The diplomat went on to say that while on other occasions, Budapest has abstained on key votes and allowed the EU to slap sanctions on Russia, on this occasion, “I don’t see that happening.”

“It’s not a matter of neutrality for Hungary,” said the envoy. “It’s about leverage.”

Orbán’s threat comes at a particularly sensitive time for Ukraine, as Kyiv’s armed forces struggle to make gains against invading Russian troops and just after United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has warned that the “window is closing” on U.S. aid for Ukraine.

With Hungary ramping up tensions and threatening to hijack the December summit of EU leaders, some countries are already contemplating ways to work around Budapest and keep aid flowing to Kyiv.

One such workaround could see EU countries sending financial aid to Ukraine via bilateral arrangements rather than via EU structures such as the European Peace Facility, which coordinates EU military aid for Kyiv — effectively freezing out Budapest.

But that approach wouldn’t work when it comes to opening formal negotiations for Kyiv to join the EU, as Hungary would have to be part of that process. As a result, and to preserve EU unity, the same diplomat said it wasn’t a good idea to freeze out Hungary quite yet.

“I understand where they are coming from,” the diplomat said with regard to those calling for a Hungary workaround on military aid. “But doing that [circumventing the EPF] would basically undermine the one European mechanism we have for support to Ukraine.”

“It’s the one thing we can show where the EU as a bloc is supporting Ukraine, which shows unity to Russia and also to the United States,” the diplomat continued.

In the event of a Hungarian veto, another option for the EU is simply to let the clock keep running and push key decisions on Ukraine policy to early next year, as Kyiv won’t reach a budget cliff-edge until March.

By deferring a decision on unfreezing EU funds for Budapest, the European Commission could turn the tables by tightening the financial screws on Budapest and forcing compliance on Ukraine.

“It’s arm-wrestling,” added the diplomat, who said the European Commission had so far shown great skill in defusing potential explosions with Budapest.

Source : Politico

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The EU’s foreign policy chief on Saturday expressed “regret” over the resumption of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, emphasizing Tel Aviv’s obligation to respect international humanitarian law and the laws of war, which he described as “not only a moral obligation but also a legal one.”

“The way Israel exercises its right to self-defence matters. It’s imperative that Israel respects International Humanitarian Law and the laws of war,” Josep Borrell wrote on X.

His remarks came after the Israeli army resumed attacks on Gaza after declaring the end of a week-long humanitarian pause on Friday morning, for which Borrell expressed regret, fearing that the already high civilian death toll would rise further.

Reiterating his call for Israel to respect international law, he stressed that this is “not only a moral obligation but a legal one as well.”

He also mentioned the increasing violence in the occupied West Bank. Citing the UN figures, Borrell said 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since Oct. 7.

“It’s not sufficient humanitarian pauses should be resumed, while simultaneously working towards a comprehensive political solution for all the Palestinian territories,” he added.

The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip early Friday after ending a week-long humanitarian pause with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

At least 178 Palestinians have been killed and 589 injured on Friday in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The humanitarian pause began on Nov. 24 as part of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to temporarily halt fighting to allow hostage swaps and aid delivery.

More than 15,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

Around 1,200 Israelis have also been killed, according to official estimates.

Source : AA

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A landmark EU anti-deforestation regulation that entered into force in June 2023 could come down hard on smallholder farmers in mainland Southeast Asia who produce a significant proportion of the region’s forest products exported to the bloc, forest trade experts say.

The EU’s deforestation-free regulation (EUDR) aim to prevent seven forest-related commodities and their products from entering the EU market if they’re found to be linked to deforestation.

The rule requires producers and companies trading timber, palm oil, soy, rubber, cattle, cocoa and coffee into the EU to provide detailed evidence proving their goods were not grown on land deforested since 2020. The new regulations give producers and companies until December 2024 to fully comply.

While the regulation is a step toward transparency and international deforestation-free supply chain management, observers say it places millions of smallholders who depend on access to the EU market in a vulnerable position. Many small-scale farmers lack the technical capacity and financial capital to meet the hefty due diligence requirements of the new rules, experts say.

Smallholders produce 95% of Vietnam’s coffee, 42% of Indonesia’s palm oil, and 95% of Thailand’s rubber. Finding ways to avoid small-scale producers being shut out of EU supply chains should therefore be a top priority for both exporting countries and the EU, according to Phuc Xuan To, a policy adviser at sustainable finance think tank Forest Trends. 

“There are a lot of concerns and worries about [the EUDR],” Phuc told Mongabay. “[E]ntire sectors, like the Vietnam coffee industry, are unsettled; many don’t know where to start and it’s particularly challenging for smallholders.”

In Vietnam alone, more than 2 million smallholders operating across roughly 6 million plots of land are engaged in the country’s three major forest-related commodities that enter EU markets and are directly affected by the new rule. Vietnam’s timber, rubber and coffee generate combined revenue from the EU in excess of $2.5 billion annually.

Among the major challenges of the new rule is a stipulation that producers and traders provide precise geographical coordinates for all plots of land from which their products are sourced. This is meant to enable buyers in the EU to trace commodities back to the farm where it was grown in order to verify that they’re deforestation-free.

However, the process of verifying land use rights and plantation registration certification, let alone gathering geolocation data, is protracted, complex and slow in many parts of Southeast Asia. Phuc said the monitoring systems and databases simply don’t exist. It will be “highly challenging if not impossible” over the short term, he added.

A major stumbling block is working out how to finance the initial stages of putting land registration and geolocation mechanisms in place. “Getting land-use titles and clear land demarcations requires a lot of resources,” Phuc said. “You have to go to the land, measure the land, mark the boundary and so on, it costs a lot of money. The [Vietnamese] coffee sector estimate it would have to pay $3 billion for that sort of background work. Who is going to pay for that? The smallholders?”

Crucially, the new regulation risks neglecting the intricate webs of cross-border trade in forest products in Southeast Asia. By focusing on onerous and expensive data collection at the farm level, Phuc told Mongabay, the regulation is missing out on the opportunity to address the “substantial” regional cross-border trade of deforestation-linked goods that could ultimately reach EU markets.

“If we look at how Vietnam imports timber from Laos, rubber from Cambodia, coffee from Laos … once it enters the country it is mixed with locally sourced supplies and then exported to Europe,” Phuc said. “How can those imports be traced? We’re not talking about small-scale imports here, there’s more than $1 billion worth of rubber imported from Cambodia each year, it’s on a massive scale.”

Such mixing of forest products via processing countries like Vietnam typically means that commodities that harm local people and the environment in other countries could still be deemed as “legal” and enter supply chains to the EU.

A lot of work remains to be done before the EU rule can be effectively applied to cross-border trade, Phuc said. “The cross-border aspect is not factored into the new regulations. The tracing of where commodities are produced in each country is complex, and to some degree, I don’t think it’s going to work, at least in the near future.”

Protecting smallholders

Experts have also highlighted that given the new EU rule relies on national laws and human rights standards, which are often weak and poorly applied in many parts of Southeast Asia, smallholders are particularly vulnerable to a spectrum of abuses. 

If smallholders lacking official land-use rights, land tenure, or capacity to comply with the new regulation are shut out from the EU market, support systems that safeguard against land grabbing, dispossession and violence must be in place, said Nathalie Faure, a senior program officer at RECOFTC, a Thailand-based community forestry nonprofit. The new regulations have the potential to stimulate such much-needed legal reforms, she added.

“The purpose of the regulation is really to create the sustainability of products, so there’s potential for having better access to information, better rules around sustainability, greening local economies,” Faure told Mongabay. “And it might create legal reforms in relation to certain aspects, such as land tenure, sustainability and trustability.”

Faure added that there’s a risk of traders cutting ties with smallholders deemed “high risk” under the new EU rule and switching to larger, less scrupulous and less ethical suppliers, but with larger capital to comply. This, ultimately, would undermine the EU’s intention, she said.

Tran Quynh Chi, a regional director at IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, a social enterprise headquartered in the Netherlands, told Mongabay the new rules serve as an opportunity for forest commodity sectors to develop more responsible approaches to business. “This is really an opportunity to make the markets and the sector transformed toward more transparency and sustainability,” Tran said.

Tran said 10-15% of smallholders engaged in the coffee sector in Vietnam live in poor rural regions close to forest edges. If mechanisms aren’t put in place to help such producer groups maintain access to supply chains, “there’s a very big risk that they’ll be excluded from the EU market, and that will drive up poverty levels,” she said.

Tran and her colleagues are now piloting a product traceability system in Vietnam in cooperation with smallholders, local governments and companies, with the end goal of developing sustainable business models that encourage producers and companies to join traceability schemes.

They’re also helping smallholders form farmers’ groups and cooperatives, “where they have sustainable governance structures and can reliably access big markets like the EU and meet the new regulation requirements.”

Ensuring that no one is left behind isn’t only important for people’s well-being, but also for environmental protection, Tran said. Smallholders living close to natural forests who are unable to comply with the new regulations “might be forced to go further into the forest to eke out a living” if excluded from EU supply chains.

“If we don’t provide them an alternative, then they have no other choice but to cut the forest. They still have to live,” Tran said.

Source : Mongabay

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Germany and France are the most populous countries in the EU and also the bloc’s largest energy consumers. The neighbours therefore wield enormous influence over EU energy policy and are pivotal to implementing a sustainable transformation of the European energy system. This factsheet provides an overview of both’ countries’ national energy systems and their approaches to meet joint European policy landmarks.

Contents

1. Geography, Politics, Economy: Different Landscapes Along the Rhine River
2. How Energy Systems Compare: Primary Energy & Electricity Production
3. Energy Consumption Declines in Both Countries
4. Renewables set to grow fast across Europe
5. Heating
6. Electric mobility
7. Energy storage
8. Power grid
9. Nuclear power: Phase-Out for Germany, Renaissance for France 
10. Fossil fuels: Germany Leads Consumption with Gas as Key Driver

Germany and France are the two largest economies in the European Union and both play a key role in the bloc’s goal to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2050. France also aims to achieve net zero emissions in that year, while Germany plans to reach the target five years earlier, in 2045. Whether or not these ambitious goals can be met will for the most part rely on their governments’ policy decisions in various sectors, especially the most energy-intensive, and subsequently on their swift implementation. But with roughly 25 years left to radically change their energy systems, meeting those targets also depends on the current reality in energy policy prevailing in each country.

Highlighting the two countries’ structural similarities and discrepancies allows a better understanding of where both of them stand as of 2023 and where they are headed given current trends. A caveat is that an entirely accurate comparison of available  datasets is not always feasible between the two countries. This is due to the intrinsic complexities of counting emissions, investments and other developments in climate and energy policy, as well as the countries using different definitions, framings and accounting procedures to quantify their efforts. However, comparing available data can still offer an overview of the state of affairs in each country, where this can lead to contradictions, but also where synergies exist in the two approaches. 

Geography, Politics, Economy: Different Landscapes Along the Rhine River

Situated on either side of western Europe’s central waterway the Rhine River, France and Germany constitute the European Union’s core region – not only geographically and historically, but also in terms of population, economic size and diplomatic weight. The two EU founding members share a wide range of cultural, institutional and political characteristics, and superficially may look quite alike on many accounts. However, they often are further apart on policy issues  than their similarities suggest, in particular regarding organisational practices and ideological approaches.

France is the EU’s largest state by area. Its European territory (metropolitan France) covers some 544.000 km2. By contrast, Germany’s area is roughly 358.000 km2, only about two thirds the size of its neighbour. In terms of population, the picture is reversed: with about 83 million people registered in the country, Germany is the EU’s most populous member state. France comes second, with nearly 66 million inhabitants. Consequently, Germany has almost twice its population density.

France is a highly centralised state with the capital Paris as its unrivaled economic, cultural and political centre. Consequently, the French president is endowed with a high degree of direct decisional power that is compounded by the fact that coalition governments are uncommon in France. Germany, on the other hand, has a strong federal political structure for its 16 states. Several cultural and economic centres are scattered across the country and state governments enjoy relative autonomy vis-à-vis with the federal government Berlin. Moreover, coalition governments have been the norm for decades, meaning the German chancellor regularly has to rely on negotiating compromises before taking a decision.

Germany boasts the EU’s largest gross domestic product (GDP) ahead of France by a considerable margin – it is estimated at some 4.3 trillion dollars against 2.9 trillion dollars for its western neighbour (IMF, 2023). For income per capita, Germany leads France with about 51,000 to 44,000 dollars per year. Together, the two countries account for about one third of the EU population and for more than 42 percent of the bloc’s total GDP.

Regarding economic composition, the share of industry is much higher in Germany than it is in France: 23.5 percent (2021) and 13 percent (2022), respectively. This difference in part results from how both the countries navigated the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, as well as the ensuing sovereign debt and Euro crisis, culminating in 2012. While French industrial production took a deep hit and remained significantly lower throughout the following decade, Germany’s economy emerged strengthened from the crisis not least thanks to its strong export-driven industrial sector.  

France had some 259,300 companies in the industry sector in 2020, with 1,1 trillion euros of total revenue. The sector employed more than 3 million people in 2021. In Germany, the around 217,100 industrial companies registered as of 2021 generated a turnover of about 2.1 trillion euros and employed roughly 7 million people. 

How Energy Systems Compare

Together, the two countries accounted for roughly 38 percent of total EU energy consumption in 2021. Of the roughly 1,300 million tons of oil equivalent used in the EU in 2021, Germany consumed 267 million tons and France some 224 million tons.

Apart from a heavy reliance on oil, the countries boast two rather different usage patterns with other energy carriers, especially regarding nuclear and coal power. Germany was the biggest coal producer in Europe in 2022 and accounted for 45 percent of its brown coal (lignite) and 25 percent of hard coal use. France, on the other hand, is by far the largest nuclear power producer in the bloc and accounted for 52 percent of total production in 2021.

Conversely, Germany opted to phase out nuclear power already in the year 2000 and completed its ‘nuclear exit‘ in April 2023, after a short delay caused by the energy crisis. In France, coal-fired power generation also has been reduced greatly in the past decades and as of 2023, only four plants were in operation in the country.

Primary Energy Production

In Germany, renewable energy accounted for some 17 percent of primary energy consumption in 2022. Total renewable energy use was 489 TWh, of which a little over half came in the form of electricity, some 40 percent in renewable heating and 7 percent in the transport sector, the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) said. The three last operating nuclear plants provided roughly 3 percent to the mix while the remaining 80 percent were mostly composed of fossil fuels, clearly led by oil (35%), followed by natural gas (24%), and coal (20%).

In France, the primary energy mix was composed mainly of nuclear power (40%) Primary production of renewable energies in 2022 in France amounted to 345 TWh, the ministry said, including biomass (38%), hydropower (17%), heat pumps (12%), wind power (11%) and biofuels (6%). Fossil fuels accounted for 46 percent of primary production, mainly with oil (28%) as well, followed by gas (15%) and a marginal share of coal (3%).

Electricity Production

Both countries covered roughly a quarter of their final 2021 energy consumption with electricity, which is supposed to replace the bulk of fossil fuel use: About 23 percent in Germany and 25 percent in France.

Regarding electricity generation, nuclear power dominated in France with a share of 63 percent, the highest share of any country in the world. Nuclear was followed by renewable power installations, with a combined share of about 26 percent. Hydro power accounted for the bulk of that share (11%) – followed by onshore wind power (8.5%), solar PV (4%), and biomass and waste (2.4%). Gas (10%) was far ahead of oil and coal (<1% each) in electricity production. Offshore wind still lurked at a share of 0.1 percent.

In Germany, renewables accounted for 44 percent of electricity production in 2022, dominated by onshore wind power (17.5%), followed by solar PV (10.5%), biomass (7.5%), offshore wind (4.5%) and hydro power (3%). The remainder was overwhelmingly composed of fossil fuels: Coal (hard coal & lignite) still accounted for over 31 percent and gas for nearly 14 percent, followed by nuclear (6%) and oil (<1%).

Energy Consumption Declines in Both Countries

Consumption has generally been declining in both France and Germany since 1990, at a somewhat faster pace than in the then re-unified Germany, where many industrial sites in the formerly communist eastern states were shuttered in the decade following reunification – while its strong recovery in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis delayed further cuts.

The German government has set itself the goal of reducing primary energy consumption by 30 percent by 2030 and by 50 percent by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. (Govt’ Energy Efficiency Strategy 2050). In 2022, it had achieved slightly over 18 percent reduction, less than the 20 percent-target envisaged already for 2020.

The latest addition to the French government’s sufficiency plan was announced in mid-2023, by the Ministry of Energy Transition. It called for a long-term sufficiency approach among the largest companies and across sectors. Alongside efficiency efforts, the current national low-carbon strategy calls for a 40 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2050.

While total energy demand is set to fall in each country, the demand for electricity will increase as industrial processes, heat generation and transport become more and more electrified. By 2030, Germany estimates a demand of 600 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from renewable energies – based on higher gross electricity consumption of about 750 TWh.
French grid operator RTE estimates a demand of about 645 TWh of  decarbonised electricity demand in 2050, pointing out it already stood at some 500 TWh in 2021.

Renewables Set to Grow Fast Across Europe

On a European scale, EU states agreed to increase the share of renewables in the overall energy mix to 42.5 percent by 2030, leaving an option open to possibly reach 45 percent – which would almost double the 2023 share of renewable energy in the bloc.

In 2022, total renewable capacity in Germany stood at roughly 148 GW (139 GW in 2021). About 58 GW of onshore wind capacity was installed, roughly 8 GW of offshore turbines, about 67 GW of solar PV arrays, 5 GW renewable hydro power and nearly 10 GW bioenergy (IRENA 2023). Together they produced about 244 TWh of net electricity, some 7.4 percent more than in the previous year, according to research institute Fraunhofer ISE.

In order to achieve the national goal of 30 percent renewable energy in gross final energy consumption formulated in its energy concept (from 20.4% in 2022) – and of 80 percent in electricity production fixed in the latest reform of its Renewable Energy Act – the government in Berlin plans to implement an expansion of wind power to 115 GW by 2030. According to the government, this translates to a fast scale-up and ultimately the construction of four to five new onshore turbines per day. Offshore wind capacity is supposed to increase more than threefold to 30 GW by the end of the decade, while the projected 2030 capacity for solar PV is 215 GW.  

Total installed renewable power capacity in France was 65 GW in 2022 (60 GW in 2021), composed of 25 GW hydro power, roughly 21 GW onshore wind,  17 GW solar PV, 0.5 GW offshore wind (with a further  8 GW already projected). In total, they contributed about 136 TWh to gross power consumption, also around 7 percent more than in the previous year, the French Energy Transition Ministry informed.

Paris wishes to develop its capacity gradually to reach a 33 percent share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption until 2030  (it had reached 20.7% in gross final consumption in 2022), as fixed by the French Climate and Energy Law of November 2019. The long-term goal up to 2050 is to significantly increase installed renewable energy capacity, as set by French President Emmanuel Macron in his Belfort speech on energy policy in early 2022. He stated that solar PV production should be increased tenfold to over 100 gigawatts (GW), with 50 offshore wind farms to be deployed to reach a capacity of 40 GW, and that onshore wind power should be doubled to 40 GW.  

While electricity generation with renewable power installations in France thus lagged  behind that of its neighbours in 2021, the renewable energy share in energy consumption was closer to the European average.

Nuclear Power: Phase-Out for Germany, Renaissance for France

As far as nuclear power is concerned, Germany closed its last plant in April 2023, following a short delay caused by the energy crisis, while France plans to invest significantly in the sector. France and other European neighbours had appealed to Germany to further postpone the shutdown of its remaining three reactors to serve as a backup-capacity in the energy crisis. However, the German government ultimately completed the phase-out that had been prepared for more than 20 years, arguing the additional capacity provided by the reactors is of little use in stabilising the system. The shutdown did not impact power prices negatively in the immediate aftermath, as critics had warned. There is no agreement on building a nuclear waste repository for the radioactive legacy of Germany’s nuclear power era and the deadline for an ongoing search that was planned for 2031 was has been postponed in 2022. 

In France, by contrast, 61 GW of nuclear capacity was installed in the same year (SGPL) in 56 reactors, and one novel EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) was under construction (Flamanville). However, twenty-six of the 56 French nuclear reactors will reach the end of their fifty-year operating life in 2035. They then will have to pass an in-depth safety inspection in order to receive a runtime extension for another ten years. President Macron also announced his plan to not only extend the operation of existing plants but launch a “nucelar renaissance” with the construction of a series (at list six and possibly eight more by 2050) of new second-generation EPR. 

Even without a renaissance, France dominates the EU’s nuclear power industry, boasting 52 percent of the bloc’s total capacity in 2021, when Germany still had several reactors operating. France also boasts the second largest nuclear power capacity in the world, ranking behind the U.S. and slightly ahead of China af of 2023.

Different nuclear scenarios exist for France, with more or less renewable energy, considering that at least 20 to 60 percent more electricity (compared with 2020) shall have to be generated by 2050 to meet growing electrification needs, according to France’s Transmission System Operator (RTE) 2021 report.

Difficulties in the French reactor fleet led to a sharp reversal in Franco-German electricity trading. While France had been Germany’s most important foreign supplier in 2021, exports decreased 62 percent in the following year – marking the first year since 1990 when France had a negative export balance with its neighbour, according to Germany’s statistical office Destatis. 

Fossil Fuels: Germany Leads Consumption with Gas as Key Driver

As of 2022, fossil fuels still cover over three quarters of Germany’s gross energy consumption – with oil providing about 35 percent, coal 20 percent and gas nearly 24 percent. However despite redeploying some of its already retired coal plants during the energy crisis, so far the country seems prepared to achieve its 2038 deadline to complete the phase-out of coal – or perhaps even faster, if eastern coal regions can be made to follow their western counterpart’s example and attempt an exit as early as 2030. However, to replace gas, coal in 2022 fed almost 8.5 percent more electricity into the grid than in the previous year.

While the use of oil (-24%) and coal (lignite -63%, hard coal -50%) has shrunk between 1990 and 2022, that of natural gas has increased markedly. In 2022, due to the supply cut from Russia, consumption was only 21 percent higher than 1990 – while in 2021 it was 41 percent higher.  There currently is no exit date in Germany, although the 2045 climate neutrality target greatly limits the extent to which it can be used until then. The government currently plans to even expand gas-fired power production but aims to make new facilities ready to work on hydrogen as well, to supply industry processes and other sectors that are difficult to decarbonise otherwise.

Regarding oil consumption, mainly for transport and heating, there are no phase-out plans and neither any concrete proposals to exit combustion engines. However, a mix of carbon pricing in transport and heating and subsidies for electric cars and renewable heating are supposed to deliver a gradual transition away from oil.

Germany’s energy import dependency, mainly consisting of fossil fuels, was higher than the EU average in 2020, with 63.7 percent of all energy consumed, compared to 57.5 percent on average for member states. The figure for France was 44.5 percent. 

Since 1990 France’s consumption of coal and oil has decreased by 72 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Conversely, natural gas use increased by 44 percent. With nuclear and hydroelectric production declining in 2022, gas-fired power plants were also called upon at an unprecedented level (+34% in metropolitan France). 

France in 2021 affirmed that it would end all funding for oil projects by 2025 and gas projects by 2035. According to all the transition scenarios studied, fossil fuel investments will have to be halved before 2030, and disappear almost entirely by 2040, the I4CE think tank underlines.

Source: Clean Energy Wire

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Gjenero told Xinhua that he applauded French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for “strategic autonomy” away from the United States.

Most Europeans see China as “a necessary partner,” according to the latest poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“It is important that Europe does not deviate from this, that it does not change its attitude towards China under the American pressure,” Gjenero said.

China was the largest source of EU imports and the third-largest buyer of EU goods in 2022, with total bilateral imports and exports reaching 856.3 billion euros (959.96 billion U.S. dollars), according to Eurostat.

The EU and China should establish “a relationship of understanding and mutual trust,” Gjenero said.

In April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that China’s international and economic status, as well as Europe’s own interests, make it all the more important for Europe to properly manage its relations with China.

Europe must “carve out our own distinct European approach that also leaves space for us to cooperate with other partners,” she added. 

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It should be noted that the first meeting in such a format took place on October 27, 2022 in Astana (Kazakhstan) with the participation of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

At the meeting in Astana, the head of our state, speaking for the consistent deepening of cooperation between our region and the European Union, highlighted a number of priority areas of interregional cooperation, and also confirmed Uzbekistan’s commitment to an open, systematic and productive dialogue in the format of “Central Asia – the European Union” in the interests of stability, sustainable development and prosperity of the countries of the two regions.

It summed up the results of cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and the European Union over the past period and expressed readiness to continue partnership based on common values and mutual interests.

The President of the European Council welcomed the efforts of the leaders of the Central Asian countries to strengthen regional cooperation and interconnectedness. In turn, the heads of Central Asian states highly appreciated the EU’s contribution to boosting economic development after the pandemic and overcoming its negative consequences. The parties stressed that the creation of favorable conditions for doing business would further boost investment in the region of interconnectedness and trade.

During the current meeting of the leaders of the Central Asian states and the European Council, it is planned to discuss issues of further strengthening interregional cooperation, as well as topical international problems.

In general, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the states of Central Asia and the EU, interregional cooperation has advanced in a plethora of areas and sectors, and today it serves as an example of multilateral partnership for the sake of prosperity and sustainability.

Uzbekistan takes an active part in this format of cooperation. In particular, meetings of the EU-Central Asia Foreign Ministers are regularly held: the 18th meeting was held in Samarkand on November 17, 2022. The next day, the first EU-Central Asia Connectivity Conference was held there.

These events were attended by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, who during his visit to our country was received by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. During the talks, Josep Borrell welcomed the policy of Uzbekistan to strengthen regional cooperation and noted that the countries of Central Asia have made great progress. He stated that the EU intends to further expand partnerships with the states of the region in the fields of politics, trade, investment, digitalization, climate change and the environment, science and education.

Since 2013, the annual EU-Central Asia High-Level Dialogue on Politics and Security has also been held. The last meeting took place on 17 May 2022 in Brussels.

The beginning of relations between Uzbekistan and the European Communities was laid on April 15, 1992 by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. On November 16, 1994, diplomatic relations were established. Since 1995, the Embassy of Uzbekistan has been operating in Brussels, which also performs the functions of the Mission to the EU. In 2011, a diplomatic mission of the European Union was opened in Tashkent.

The contractual and legal basis of relations consists of 15 documents, the key of which are the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, the Agreement on the Establishment of the EU Diplomatic Representation in Uzbekistan, the Memorandum on Cooperation in the Energy Sphere, the Protocol on amendments to the ATP and the Agreement on Bilateral Trade in Textiles.

In July 2022, Uzbekistan and the EU completed three years of negotiations and initialed in Brussels the text of a new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA), which will replace the PCA that has been in force for more than 20 years.

Under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Uzbekistan and the EU, six joint bodies have been established – the Cooperation Council, the Cooperation Committee, the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, the Subcommittee on Economy, Trade and Investment, the Subcommittee on Justice, Home Affairs, Human Rights and Related Issues, the Subcommittee on Cooperation for development purposes.

The EU strongly supports the ongoing strategy of irreversible reforms in the New Uzbekistan. This was announced at the meeting of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel, held in Tashkent on October 28, 2022. During the talks, which took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere, the leaders confirmed that in recent years, relations between Uzbekistan and the European Union have reached a qualitatively new level and become comprehensive.

EU support was also expressed in Tashkent on April 14 this year at a meeting of the President of Uzbekistan with EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore and EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala. At the meeting, the European side praised the achievements of Uzbekistan in ensuring human rights, developing civil society, gender equality, eradicating forced labor and other areas.

Most favored nation treatment has been established in trade between Uzbekistan and the EU countries. In recent years, thanks to the GSP+ conditions presented by the European side, there has been a dynamic growth in the volume of mutual trade and the number of successful investment projects. In addition, significant events are held in the field of cultural and humanitarian exchange.

Therefore, in 2022, the total volume of trade with the EU countries amounted to $4.5 billion, and in January-March 2023, this figure exceeded $1.8 billion.

Uzbekistan’s main trading partners in the EU are Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Poland.

There are 1069 enterprises operating in Uzbekistan with the participation of investments from the EU states, including 304 companies with 100% European capital.

The EU provides financial and technical assistance to Uzbekistan in the implementation of bilateral projects and support for the development of civil society and human rights. As part of the relevant programs for 2021-2024, the EU allocated 83 million euros to Uzbekistan.

In addition, within the framework of the financial and technical assistance of the EU, a project worth 5.2 million euros “EU Contribution to the Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security for the Aral Sea Region” is being implemented.

An integral part of bilateral cooperation is cultural and humanitarian interaction.

Over 25 years, together with the European Union, more than 80 projects of the Tempus educational program have been implemented in the amount of more than 32 million euros with the participation of 55 higher educational institutions of Uzbekistan and 71 universities of the EU member states.

Since 2014, within the framework of the Erasmus+ educational program, more than 40 projects with a budget of about 40 million euros have been implemented to increase the potential of higher education, which involve about 70 universities, over 20 sectoral departments and organizations of Uzbekistan, as well as about 120 European universities.

Within the framework of regional and bilateral cooperation, Uzbekistan and the EU are implementing joint projects in the areas of socio-economic development, education, the rule of law, border management, the fight against drugs and organized crime, transport, environmental protection, agriculture and others.

Since 2013, the Delegation of the European Union in Uzbekistan, together with the National Agency “Uzbekkino”, annually holds the European Film Festival in Tashkent. It has already become one of the most notable and large-scale cultural projects in Uzbekistan. About five thousand spectators take part in it every year.

Since 2016, the Festival has expanded its geography and began to be held in other cities of Uzbekistan. In 2017, the festival, in addition to Tashkent, was organized in Navoi and Nukus, in 2018 – in Shakhrisabz and Ferghana, in 2019 – in Urgench, Nukus and Jizzakh.

Last year and as well as this year, exhibitions dedicated to the historical and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan were held in Europe with great success. In particular, at the end of November last year, two exhibitions opened in Paris – at the Louvre and the Institute of the Arab World, the first of which was devoted to a greater extent to archaeological finds, and the second represented textiles, jewelry, carpets at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The last exhibition continues its work until the end of June this year.

As part of a visit to Germany in May this year, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Germany opened the exhibition “Archaeological Treasures of Uzbekistan. From Alexander the Great to the Kushan Empire. The exhibition has been in preparation for several years. It includes 285 items from the collections of museums in Uzbekistan and 65 from museums in Berlin. This exhibition will run until January 14, 2024.

Consequently , the above indicates that both Uzbekistan and the European Union are aimed at strengthening and expanding cooperation not only in bilateral, but also in regional formats for the benefit of the development of interconnectedness, which creates the basis for further prosperity and progress of the people of our countries and regions.

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First of all I would like to thank President Xi for hosting us in China today. And I would like to  present to the people of China my sincere condolences for the death of your former President Jiang Zemin.

The EU promotes its interests and its values in the world. I have come to Beijing to engage in a candid, in-depth, and face-to-face dialogue with China’s leadership. Today’s meeting with President Xi Jinping took some three hours. I also met with Prime minister Li Keqiang and the chairman of the National People’s Congress, Li Zhanshu. It’s our first in-person meeting since I took office, due to COVID. My last visit to China was as Belgian Prime Minister in November 2016.

A few weeks ago, I put a discussion on the EU-China relationship on the agenda of the European Council. The 27 leaders agreed on the critical importance of the EU-China relationship. We discussed how to best manage it in Europe’s interest but also in the global interest.

Today, we know that the world faces multiple crises. The war in Ukraine, the energy and food crises, and the slow-down of the global economy. On top of climate change and global health. These global issues require dialogue and action. We need to discuss where we can work better together, but also to discuss and manage our differences. I believe in the power of dialogue.

Both the EU and China have an interest in a rules-based world with the UN Charter at its core.

We had the occasion to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine. China is a global player and a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. We all share the responsibility to work for peace and for the respect of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter. I urged President Xi — as we did at our EU-China Summit in April — to use his influence on Russia to respect the UN charter.

The Kremlin’s attack on a sovereign nation blatantly violates international law. President Xi and I agreed that nuclear threats are not acceptable and highly dangerous, and endanger the international community.

I also raised the issue of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rights of minorities.

Human rights are universal. I welcome the readiness to resume the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. We will follow up on this commitment. This format has not convened for more than three years.  So, this is an important signal. The Dialogue will allow us to focus on wider human rights policy issues and on individual cases. The right of peaceful assembly is a fundamental right enshrined both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in national constitutions.

I also raised the situation of minorities. We discussed for instance at length the situation in Xinjiang. This is not about interfering with internal affairs. It’s about upholding the principles agreed by the UN for decades and this also applies to Hong Kong. It’s essential that we continue to talk.

We also discussed issues related to the wider Asian region. The EU will have a summit with the ASEAN countries in two weeks. We are deeply connected with our ASEAN partners. We are committed to a peaceful Indo-Pacific and Southeast China Sea. We recall the importance of de-escalating tensions in the region. We need to maintain freedom of navigation and overflight in the region and beyond.

We also discussed Taiwan. The EU is committed to and maintains its One China Policy. I repeated the longstanding position of the EU on Taiwan and the Taiwan strait.

The EU has a strong interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait: 40% of our trade passes through it. It is important to promote stability and prosperity in East Asia. We also discussed the situation in the DPRK and Myanmar.

We also had the occasion to address both bilateral and global economic issues, a key topic of my visit here today in China. European leaders insisted on this point.

China is our top trading partner in goods amounting to almost EUR 2 billion every day and China accounts for over 22% of European imports. China’s growth in recent decades has benefited both China and the EU and has contributed substantially to China’s dramatic economic transformation.

But I also set out the difficulties faced by EU companies and investors. On the European side, market access remains very open, while in China several sectors remain much more closed. We need greater reciprocity, we need a more balanced relationship with no overdependencies, a real level-playing field for our companies. We need to strike the right balance. A shift into ‘self-reliance’ carries dangers not only for China and the EU but also for the world.

We believe in free trade, in cooperation; but we need balance and fairness. So, we need to work more on the issues hampering our broad trade relationship and there are channels for that. We believe that trade and investment must be governed by rules, by a reformed World Trade Organization.

We also discussed global issues — such as climate change, health, and the Sustainable Development Goals. We can only meet the challenges of climate change globally and this cannot be done without China. 

On health, we are cooperating on the initiative for a Pandemic Treaty. This is a concrete example of international cooperation.

Finally, China has a key role to play in issues of common interest, especially for developing countries. For example, on debt reduction, food, and energy issues.

We also exchanged views about the COVID situation. The recovery from the COVID pandemic remains a shared priority. I stressed that, in Europe, vaccines have proved especially effective in reducing the number of severe COVID cases and fatalities.

Today I conveyed key messages on geopolitical, economic, and global issues. We need to make sure that communication channels remain open and that they are used effectively.

With China, engaging openly on all aspects of our relationship is the only way forward. We agreed to continue our exchanges in light of the next EU-China Summit in 2023. Thank you.

Source: Consilium.Europa.Eu

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