Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

The climate X factor

Sanna Marin 26th May 2021

The climate and biodiversity crises we face demand not only carbon-neutral energy sources but also a circular economy.

circular economy,climate change,biodiversity,Finland
Sanna Marin

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the most pressing challenges of our time, so all responsible political leaders must offer long-term policies for confronting them effectively. We need clear strategies based on achievable targets, and we must be bold in deploying all means at our disposal. In particular, any credible climate strategy must take proper account of technological innovation.

With the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2035 and carbon negative (removing more atmospheric carbon than is emitted) soon thereafter, Finland’s climate targets are among the most ambitious in the world. My country aims to be a leader among advanced economies, not just in terms of emissions reductions but also by ushering in a circular economy focused on sustainability and the elimination of waste. Our plan is to double our resource efficiency and circularity rate (the percentage of all material that is fed back into the economy) by 2035.

These are the key benchmarks on our path to becoming the first country to liberate itself from fossil fuels. But achieving climate targets is not possible without better methods of preserving our valuable natural resources. Scientific discovery, new technologies and innovation will play a central role in any long-term solution.

Strict criteria

But, first, all national leaders must examine more closely how they intend to move their countries away from fossil fuels. The focus should be on increasing the use of fuels and energy sources that do not compromise biodiversity. We must encourage uptake of fuels that adhere to strict sustainability criteria and reduce emissions throughout their lifecycle.

Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content.


We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

Please check your inbox and click on the link in the confirmation email to complete your newsletter subscription.

.

For example, the by-products of biomass fuels can be used for high-quality sustainable and biodegradable products such as textiles and construction materials, thereby safeguarding biodiversity by reducing the demand for resources harvested from our forests. And ‘power-to-X’ conversion technologies open the door for a variety of processes that turn electricity into heat, hydrogen or synthetic fuels.

With more investment and innovation, these technologies could allow us to part ways with coal, oil and natural gas, by making it possible to produce synthetic fuels from captured carbon-dioxide emissions. Here, one can start with the existing industrial flue gases generated by bio-based industry, cement kilns and solid-waste incinerators. But, soon enough, new technologies could be developed to harness less concentrated sources of carbon, such as by collecting exhaust air from office buildings or even by direct air capture (DAC).

Experimentation is already under way. Using hydrogen produced by electrolysis, CO2 emissions from industrial plants and DAC could become a source of synthetic liquid and gaseous fuels for carbon-neutral road, maritime and air transport. These methods produce synthetic methanol as an intermediate product, which can then be converted into gasoline, kerosine and diesel. Strange as it may sound, we are not far from being able to create fuels out of thin air.

Developing quickly

These new technologies and processes may start out with a large price tag. But as we’ve seen with solar panels and fuel cells, a technology’s costs tend to plummet as soon as its usage starts to scale up. Moreover, markets for other new climate-friendly technologies are developing quickly, though these vary in depth and scope, depending on the level of government support (through measures such as blending regulations for fuels and carbon pricing).

For example, promising new hydrogen-based technologies will require a massive increase in fossil-fuel-free electricity production to achieve scale. But this need can be met by expanding the use of wind and solar power, which are already the least costly options for power generation in many parts of the world.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

New technologies will enable a major shift toward sustainably fuelled transport in many developed and developing countries. They will not only allow us to reduce global CO2 emissions but will also position many industries to become carbon-negative in the future.

Carbon pricing

But technology will not solve the climate crisis for us. We also need to create the right policy environment. A key component of the green transition will be higher carbon pricing, which requires co-ordination and support at the international level. Agreeing on sustainable criteria for carbon-market mechanisms would be an important step forward. And governments should do more to support structural changes through regulatory frameworks and financial incentives.

The global transition away from fossil fuels will require a transformational shift in energy production and industrial processes. And even then, much more work will need to be done to develop a genuinely circular and green economy. Different countries will have different needs and advantages. But the best solutions will be the ones that can be scaled up in industrialised and developing countries alike.

The bottom line is that global emissions must peak soon if we want to achieve our emissions-reduction targets and avert future climate disasters. The full suite of promising new technologies will need to be developed, optimised and deployed globally if we are going to create a fully climate-neutral, circular world economy.

Republication forbidden—copyright Project Syndicate 2021, ‘The climate X factor’

circular economy,climate change,biodiversity,Finland
Sanna Marin

Sanna Marin is prime minister of Finland.

Home ・ Ecology ・ The climate X factor

Most Popular Posts

schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling
world order,Russia,China,Europe,United States,US The coming world orderMarc Saxer
south working,remote work ‘South working’: the future of remote workAntonio Aloisi and Luisa Corazza
Russia,Putin,assets,oligarchs Seizing the assets of Russian oligarchsBranko Milanovic
Russians,support,war,Ukraine Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?Svetlana Erpyleva

Most Recent Posts

Gazprom,Putin,Nordstream,Putin,Schröder How the public loses out when politicians cash inKatharina Pistor
defence,europe,spending Ukraine and Europe’s defence spendingValerio Alfonso Bruno and Adriano Cozzolino
North Atlantic Treaty Organization,NATO,Ukraine The Ukraine war and NATO’s renewed credibilityPaul Rogers
transnational list,European constituency,European elections,European public sphere A European constituency for a European public sphereDomènec Ruiz Devesa
hydrogen,gas,LNG,REPowerEU EU hydrogen targets—a neo-colonial resource grabPascoe Sabido and Chloé Mikolajczak

Other Social Europe Publications

The transatlantic relationship
Women and the coronavirus crisis
RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

The new edition of the Bilan social 2021, co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), reveals that while EU social policy-making took a blow in 2020, 2021 was guided by the re-emerging social aspirations of the European Commission and the launch of several important initiatives. Against the background of Covid-19, climate change and the debate on the future of Europe, the French presidency of the Council of the EU and the von der Leyen commission must now be closely scrutinised by EU citizens and social stakeholders.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Living and working in Europe 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe. It also summarises the agency’s findings on issues such as gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages. These will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.


AVAILABLE HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube