EUROPEThe European Green Deal as an EU-Arctic Foreign Policy Tool
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Published 1 week ago on October 3, 2021By Gabriella Gricius
Authors: Gabriella Gricius and Andreas Raspotnik*
As a transformational effort to change how the European economy operates and with the goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050, the European Green Deal can certainly not be called unambitious. The deal includes a diverse range of policy measures and subsidies while also increasing R&D and investment in environmentally friendly transportation and other key infrastructure within the European Union. But more importantly, the Green Deal is a foreign policy tool for the EU – acting not only as a driving force for environmental sustainability domestically and externally but also one that has a distinct Arctic agenda.
The main goal of the European Green Deal is to eliminate and offset its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in a broader attempt to limit global warming. It uses a variety of different objectives across the Union’s economy and society to achieve that broader purpose including biodiversity, sustainable food systems, sustainable agriculture, clean energy, sustainable industry, sustainable mobility, eliminating pollution and climate action. In doing so, it institutionalizes a form of green thinking – one that decouples economic growth from resource use and fosters an inclusive just transition. One example of this is the development of a sustainable blue economy policy for the EU. A blue economy policy must reckon with pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and climate change to begin with, while also investing in technologies to switch to a circular economy, preserve biodiversity, ensure sustainable food production, and support climate adaptation.
As such, the European Green Deal is also a foreign policy tool for the EU. The blue economy aspect is particularly resonant here because it will have an impact in the Arctic with the EU leading as a regulatory power. Many parts of the blue economy proposal have to do with achieving climate neutrality, reducing pollution, supporting climate adaptation, and creating sustainable sea management. Moreover, the Fit for 55 package – a set of proposals to create fair and socially just policies that will help the EU combat climate change – brings even more blue ideas such as the FuelEU Maritime initiative that aims to increase the percentage of renewables and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport.
Importantly, this also has implications for the Arctic region. While the European Green Deal does not explicitly discuss the Arctic at all, it has a distinct Arctic agenda. With key elements in the Green Deal focusing on supporting biodiversity and sustainable food systems and industry, it is clear that part of the EU’s responses to the challenges in the Arctic actually is the European Green Deal. Not only does the Arctic – from regional developments in the European Arctic to broader considerations in the Circumpolar Arctic – have the potential to lead the green transition and play a key role in the realization of the Green Deal, but the way that the EU conducts itself will lend to a more sustainable and climate resilient Arctic. As the EU takes more of a leadership role in climate change discussions, it may be able to leverage its relationship with Arctic countries like Canada to encourage just transition policies and other green politics in the Arctic. At the moment, final touches are given to the latest update of the Union’s Arctic policy, with a new Joint Communication on A stronger EU engagement for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic to be published early October. It might not be this very update or the process leading towards a new policy that will determine the EU’s future Arctic agenda but rather the path towards implementing more robust environmental or energy regulations within the EU – within the framework of the European Green Deal. Developing a distinct EU Arctic policy should only be regarded as secondary to building a regulatory framework that considers the ongoing changes in the Arctic. GHG emissions schemes, internal climate policies and goals, and market mechanisms all impact the Arctic’s environmental security. Focusing on the EU’s internal legislative changes is crucial, including their consequences for the continuous development of the EU Arctic policy.
Once the revised version of the Union’s Arctic policy emerges, it will be key to watch what policies the EU promotes in the Arctic and the mechanisms through which they will work. In the past, the EU has already taken steps in the past to regulate fishing and oil & gas extraction in the Arctic. However, with the acceleration of new green proposals not only in the European Green Deal, but also the related the Fit for 55 Proposals, there is a serious opportunity for the EU to act as a regulatory power and influence others – whether they be blue economy leaders or not – in Arctic behavior. With the European Green Deal, the EU has the opportunity to turn one-off negotiations and bilateral agreements into institutionalized ways of approaching Arctic industry, economy, and sustainable development.
*Dr. Andreas Raspotnik is currently an Austrian Marshall Plan Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) in Oslo, Norway and a Senior Fellow and Leadership Group Member at The Arctic Institute – Center for Circumpolar Security Studies.