Wanted: politicians willing to take risks. Who do not talk too much to the voter’s mouth. Who dare to take big steps in the field of climate and nature policy. Because that is badly needed. The extreme drought in Spain, as a result of which water had to be rationed; the recent storm in Italy, which has displaced 36,000 people and threatens millions in (economic) damage. These are the latest signs of much more extreme weather patterns due to climate change. The Netherlands is also not immune to this, as it turned out last year, when rivers fell dry. And in 2021, during the floods in Limburg, Belgium and Germany. And that’s just Europe.
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But although ambitious Dutch and European policy is necessary, the omens are unfavorable: while the European Commission has an ambitious Green Deal has rigged up, the resistance against this is rapidly increasing. The election victory of the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) has not gone unnoticed in the rest of Europe. European sister parties of the shriveled CDA are shocked by the unprecedented social forces that farmers’ organizations are able to unleash. Farmers who genuinely want to think along, and there are plenty of them, lose out to farmers with the biggest financial interests, the biggest mouth and the biggest tractors – who dares to argue with that?
The European liberals are starting to get nervous: they fear that farmers will soon be spared in climate policy at the expense of industry and entrepreneurs. French President Macron recently called for “a regulatory, European pause” on green legislation. Paris believes that the green plans “should not be too harmful to European industry”. Belgian Prime Minister De Croo spoke this week about the „press pause button”. “Europe must beware of a lasagna of rules, which makes it difficult to invest. (…) We must not overload the cart.”
Macron makes a strong argument in his own right: if the EU wants to become a geopolitical player and continue to compete with the US and China, a strong industry is needed. But this is exactly the problem. There are always reasons why the climate should wait a while. Sometimes it is farmers who need time to adapt, then the war in Ukraine is brought in or the (economic) showdown in the world. And oh yes: there will be European elections next year. All well and good, but the climate doesn’t care much about it. Many politicians excel at creating false contradictions. Nature versus agriculture. City versus countryside. Rich versus poor. While tackling climate change requires a long-term vision. A systemic change is needed that extends beyond individual or national interests, a position that is more difficult to sell electorally.
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The Green Deal is undoubtedly not perfect, but it would be a good start. In addition to measures to achieve a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 (such as the ban on petrol cars or the pricing of transport), the plan also contains measures for nature restoration and the conservation of biodiversity. The criticism focuses mainly on this, and in particular on the ‘prohibition of deterioration’: the requirement that nature reserves must not only be restored, but also not allowed to deteriorate further. If you want to move forward, you shouldn’t go backwards: it sounds logical, and it is, but in the eyes of critics it is far too compelling. The evidence speaks for itself: previous agreements on nature conservation, such as Natura 2000, were too noncommittal and were poorly observed, particularly in the ‘nitrogen land of the Netherlands’. The expert reports are unrelenting: the biodiversity crisis and loss of species is at least as threatening as the climate crisis. Hit the pause button? Try the throttle.
For those who do not embrace climate policy out of conviction, enlightened self-interest also applies. Anyone who wants children to grow up in a livable world will have to relate to the future. Where the core of every political vision in recent decades has been focused on economic growth and improving everyone’s living conditions, it is increasingly about sharing the pain fairly. Because pain will be suffered: European citizens consume on average much more than the planet can currently handle. That is not a pleasant message, but it is the honest story. Any politician who says that his electorate will not be affected by climate change is cheating.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of May 27, 2023.