Environment
Combating environmental degradation and preserving forests and oceans are among the prerequisites for achieving climate neutrality, and have become major governance issues.
Related Subjects
The EU Green Deal External Impacts: Views from China, India, South Africa, Türkiye and the United States
Ahead of June 2024 European elections and against the backdrop of growing geopolitical and geoeconomic frictions, if not tensions, between the EU and some of its largest trade partners, not least based on the external impacts of the European Green Deal (EGD), Ifri chose to collect views and analyses from leading experts from China, India, South Africa, Türkiye and the United States of America (US) on how they assess bilateral relations in the field of energy and climate, and what issues and opportunities they envisage going forward.
Global Gateway: Towards a European External Climate Security Strategy?
Transport, energy, water and telecommunications infrastructures are vital for economic development. These infrastructures are also fundamental for the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have suffered a setback notably due to the Covid-19 pandemic, wars, and weak economic performance. Based on the Global Infrastructure Outlook, the world needs 97 trillion dollars ($) in infrastructure investments (energy, water, airports, ports, rail, road, and telecommunications) over 2016-2040, and based on the current investment trends ($79 trillion over the given period), the cumulative global infrastructure investment gap amounts to $18 trillion.
Germany’s Strategy on Climate Foreign Policy: Balancing Sustainable Development and Energy Security
With the war in Ukraine, Germany’s “traffic light” coalition government has had to adapt its climate policy to the upheavals caused by this war, which has turned its economic, energy, and military model upside down. Against a backdrop of high energy costs and increasing calls for reshoring in Europe, German industry is looking at how to maintain its competitiveness while decarbonizing its industry.
Thorns and Alliances. German, French and European Agricultural Policy Between Food Safety and Respect for the Environment
Influences and developments within German agricultural policy have undergone significant transformations over the past 70 years, especially in the context of the dynamic Franco-German relations and the pivotal role both nations play in shaping the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Climate, Finance, and Geopolitics: Human Self-delusions and the Challenges for Europe
The combination of geopolitical tensions, climate disruption, and the growing role of finance in the economy is taking us into uncharted territory. Until recently, each of these subjects was handled separately, but they are now inextricably linked by two shared characteristics: the gravity of the threat, and the fact that they all lay bare the scale of human self-delusions.
Reflecting on a Decade of the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM). Achievements and Future Pathways
The South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) is taking place in Nouméa (New Caledonia) from December 4th to 6th of this year.
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
How to Meet the Industrial Challenge of Electric Mobility in France and in Europe
The deployment at scale of electric mobility in France and in Europe withholds significant industrial, societal, geopolitical, and financial challenges, against the backdrop of strategic dependencies along the value chain of the electric vehicle (EV).
Impossible Decoupling, Improbable Cooperation: Economic Interdependencies in the Face of Power Rivalries
Export restrictions, economic and financial sanctions, politicization of monetary and financial choices, screening of inward and outward foreign direct investments, exceptional customs duties, and state interventions in sectors deemed strategic: the political vise is tightening around international economic and financial relations.
Balance of Power in the Taiwan Strait in the Case of a Natural Disaster: Considering an Overlooked Scenario
Scenario planning in the Taiwan Strait that solely assumes a situation without natural disasters or emergencies, where the military and government function as usual, falls short in preparing for more complex contingencies.
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
India’s Development Strategy with the Pacific Island Countries. Killing Two (or More) Birds with One Stone
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 20-21, 2023, is a testament to India’s international positioning and search for a global role. In Port Moresby, Modi co-chaired the third Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) and announced a series of steps to enhance development cooperation with its partners of the South Pacific. India’s outreach to the Pacific Island countries (PICs) was clearly in line with its G20 presidency and its campaign to be the leading voice of the Global South.
G20 Energy Transitions and Climate Finance Task Force Report
India is at the helm of the G20 presidency since the 1st of December 2022 for the duration of a year, with energy transition and climate finance being key topics on its agenda. In this context, the Gateway House put in place a G20 Energy Task Force to which Ifri’s Research Fellow, Diana-Paula Gherasim, participated.
The Missing Guest: Energy Efficiency in the Multilateral Energy Arena
Since the 1970s, energy efficiency has gained visibility as a low hanging fruit – its potential impact on critical issues such as climate change, energy security, or competitiveness is now widely acknowledged, even more so in times of higher energy prices.
After the Hydrogen Bubble Bursts: The Factors Shaping and Possibly Unfolding International Hydrogen Value Chains
The laws of physics and the geographic realities will prevail over the myths of hydrogen (H2): it will essentially be delivering carbon-neutral feedstocks to the chemical and steelmaking industries, carbon-neutral fuels to shipping and aviation, and eventually ensuring security in fully decarbonized power grids.
Can the Biggest Emitters Set Up a Climate Club? A Review of International Carbon Pricing Debates
The world’s largest emitting countries are reconsidering the role of carbon pricing instruments and increasingly looking at carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) to address leakage concerns. This renewed momentum should trigger a broader discussion on how to make trade policies compatible with the climate agenda.
Ambitious New Climate Goals Shouldn't Let China off the Hook
Xi Jinping’s announcement of carbon neutrality is impeccably timed, but the hard part lies ahead.
South Korea’s Hydrogen Strategy and Industrial Perspectives
South Korea is a hydrogen (H2) frontrunner. The world’s first commercial fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) was launched by the South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai (Tucson i×35) in 2013.
POSCO Energy, South Korea’s largest private energy producer, completed the world’s largest fuel cell manufacturing plant in 2015. When President Moon took office in 2018, the new government identified H2 as a new growth engine, and pledged to turn the country into a H2 economy.
The Battle Heats Up: Climate Issues in the 2020 US Presidential Election
Environmental issues have frequently enjoyed bipartisan support in American history: the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1963 under Democratic President Johnson, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 under Republican President Nixon.
China’s Ambiguous Positions on Climate and Coal
China’s 2018 energy consumption data capture the ambiguity of Beijing’s attitude toward climate change. Energy demand rose by 3.5% to 3,155 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), with an increase of coal consumption (though its share in the overall energy mix is decreasing) and an expected greenhouse gas (GHG) emission surge of 2.3%, to 9.5 gigatonnes (Gt) for the same year.
The EU’s Power System by 2030: Navigating the Crisis and Keeping the Decarbonization Cap (video)
Replay from Ifri's conference at the European Parliament in Brussels (October 11, 2022). The combination of the climate crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine makes the case for a much faster transition to a fully decarbonized power system.
U.S. foreign policy and the World's new power balance: an interview with Gordon Adams
Gordon Adams, Professor Emeritus of International Relations, School of International Service, American University speaks about U.S. foreign policy and the World's new power balance on the sidelines of Ifri's 18th annual U.S. conference held on December 6, 2019.
The roots of anti-environmentalism in the U.S.
An interview with Peter Jacques, Professor of Political Science, University of Central Florida.
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