Climate Change
Sweden, an Early Climate Leader, Is Retreating From Its Environmental Commitments, Part of an EU Trend
As the U.S. abandons international climate agreements, the EU is hesitating to lead. A once-admired Nordic nation’s backtracking on its climate goals offers clues as to why.
Five years after the European Union vowed to lead the creation of the “first climate neutral continent” by 2050, and pledged at least a trillion euros to that effort, a long list of organizations, companies and agencies are accusing the EU of rolling back its European Green Deal with deregulation. Controversial proposals also include carbon offsets, loopholes in its emissions targets and delays of important efforts to reduce deforestation and make cleaner cars. Some critics have gone so far as to argue that the 27-nation union, the world’s third-largest carbon emitter, is now starting to mirror, rather than counter, the dismantling of climate efforts in the U.S.