Is climate off the agenda?

By Deliana Paggi

In the major debate that followed Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ and led the EU to question which direction to take, now that it has lost its main trading partner, one major issue was notably absent: climate.

Environmental commitment and the goals of the Green Deal no longer seem to be an urgent concern for traditional media, and there is a real risk that the need to find immediate and effective solutions may end up strengthening internal resistance to the green transition in Europe.

Ecco, an Italian climate think tank, has described the U.S. trade war against the EU as a war on Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. According to data, over 50% of the EU imports from the United States are fossil fuels. Trump’s threat to offer tariff peace only in exchange for buying US-produced energy appears to be a clear attempt to protect American industries at the expense of the EU’s path to climate neutrality.

In Europe, trade and environmental policy have always been intrinsically linked. But at this turning point, where uncertainty is the only certainty, balancing the various interests at stake is becoming increasingly difficult.

One alternative to Free Trade Agreements is Bilateral Strategic Partnerships. The idea is to create focused agreements between the EU and partner countries, each on the supply chain of a single good, to promote the development of low-carbon infrastructure. These agreements are more versatile and efficient. They also support less advanced economies.

The EU must seize this opportunity to further embrace its core values and take the lead in a sector, the green economy, that should be a global priority.