E3G

Central and Eastern Europe’s climate change opportunity

By Tom Burke, Chris Littlecott and Nick Mabey

The politics of opportunity

The transition to a low carbon economy is the best opportunity to modernise infrastructure, industry, housing stock and energy production that we will ever see. It could possibly create and guarantee millions of new European jobs, improve energy security, and spur the renewal of low-carbon, people-friendly cities. It is vital that these changes are made now, as current fossil-fuelled investments are continuing to tack on expensive liabilities for today’s younger generations, rather than creating new low-carbon assets.

CEE countries are positioned to receive the greatest gains from this transformation. Major improvements in energy efficiency will increase energy security and improve trade balances, in addition to generating financial benefits through carbon trading. And the region’s population has strong technical, scientific and industrial skills that are all crucial for the successful development, manufacture and deployment of new low-carbon goods and services throughout Europe and beyond.

The key to securing all of these objectives will be effective investment, which will come from both public and private sources. By taking a positive stance on the EU Budget Reform, CEE leaders could leverage funding that will provide their economies with the low carbon foundations that will be needed in an era of increasingly severe energy and climate constraints. Used this way, EU money would pave the way for a major deployment of climate compatible electricity generation, low carbon transport systems, domestic and commercial energy efficiency improvements and widespread deployment of renewable energy technologies.

Such an approach would solve many political problems. It would demonstrate the EU’s relevance and added value, and would reduce the vulnerability of economies to energy price shocks and the political influence of energy exporters. It would also be a major step towards meeting climate targets and jobs and competitiveness goals, and would also strengthen the EU’s leadership capacity on climate change. Finally, it would be a major driver for greater prosperity and improved quality of life throughout the EU and beyond.

This article draws on E3G’s pamphlet titled: Europe in the World: Political choices for security and prosperity.