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The European Green Deal was launched by the European Commission (EC) in December 2019, before being formally approved in 2020. It comprises a package of policy measures that aim to set the European Union (EU) on the path to a green transition, with the ultimate objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Despite the EU's longstanding commitment to reducing carbon emissions in support of climate change mitigation and the achievement of its net zero ambition, this paper focuses on the growing importance of climate change adaptation within its policy portfolio. With respect to the latter, the long-term vision is for the EU to become a climate-resilient society that is also fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Achieving climate neutrality and a climate-resilient society by 2050 will be more challenging for some EU member states and regions than for others, eg poorer regions and those highly dependent on fossil fuels or with carbon-intensive industries that employ significant numbers of people. To address such issues, the EU has introduced a Just Transition Mechanism to help level the playing field and provide financial and technical support to regions most adversely affected by the move towards a low carbon economy. The paper traces the evolution of the EU's climate policy agenda leading up to the adoption of the Green Deal, outlines its proposed road map in pursuit of climate neutrality and a climate-resilient society by 2050, and questions the efficacy of some its intermediate targets including the adequacy and equity of its just transition aspirations. It also details and scrutinises the key role that the European Investment Bank (EIB) will play in supporting delivery of the strategy.1,2 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of behavioural determinants, such as consumer attitude, subjective norm, behavioural control and sustainable buying behaviour, on organic food purchase behaviour in different EU countries. Design/methodology/approach: A structured survey of more than 5000 individuals from Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Czech Republic was conducted to elicit consumer responses regarding behavioural determinants of organic food selection. Both a structural equation modelling approach and a multinomial logit model were employed to analyse the data. Findings: Consumer attitudes, subjective norms and behavioural control were shown to significantly influence the frequency of organic food purchasing behaviour for the whole sample and to varying degrees across each of the countries. The effect of a sustainable buying behaviour was found to be more pronounced for Germany, Netherlands and Italy than for Czech Republic and Spain. Research limitations/implications: Analysis is based on self-reported data on frequency of organic food purchases, which might be subject to recall bias. Overestimation may arise as consumers tend to report increased purchasing due to the "desirable" qualities of organic food. We tried to ensure that the translations bore similar meanings cross country although some miscomprehension by survey respondents was a possibility. Practical implications: To stimulate consumer demand for organic products, it is important to design policies and interventions that take into account the impact of both behavioural factors and demographic attributes on consumer decision-making across various locations. For example, market analysts and policymakers may find it useful to exploit the impact of consumer attitude towards the qualities of organics to induce sales of such food in their locations. Originality/value: This paper combines unique survey data from five EU countries using a common model to explore and compare consumer behavioural preferences for multiple organic food products. In addition to a classic triad of behavioural factors believed to influence organic food purchases, sustainable buying behaviour as a determinant of organic purchasing behaviour was included in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions statistics indicate only a slight decreasing trend over the last number of years in emissions from agricultural sources. Unless drastic action is taken in other sectors, the European Union's 2030 and subsequent climate targets are unlikely to be met without greater reductions made in agricultural emissions. The policy instruments aimed at reducing agricultural emissions that are currently in place have proven to be ineffective; therefore, there is a need to look for new approaches towards bringing agricultural emissions down faster and farther. One obvious new approach is to integrate agricultural emissions into the European Union Emissions Trading System, which, so far, has proven very successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy and industrial sectors. Hardly any attention has been paid in the scholarly legal literature to the question of integrating agricultural GHG emissions into emission trading systems. This article seeks to fill this gap. This paper presents the concluding findings of a Dutch Research Council-funded research project that aimed to assess whether and under what conditions the European Union Emissions Trading System could play a role in compelling the agricultural sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. We answered this question by looking at lessons learned from existing examples in the world of market-based approaches to integrating agriculture into emission reduction schemes. To do this, we performed an ex-post assessment of three of the very few examples that exist in the world of such schemes in Canada, California, and Australia, followed by an ex-ante assessment of the prospect of including agricultural emissions under the European Union Emissions Trading System based on the practical experiences of those examples. In the ex-ante study, we evaluated how such inclusion could work, either indirectly, through allowing on-farm offset programs to reward increased carbon sequestration, or directly, by requiring farmers and/or other actors in the agricultural sector to surrender allowances for their direct emissions. As lawyers, we focused mainly on the legal considerations of such a proposition. Having conducted both the ex-ante and ex-post assessments, we conclude that introducing stricter legal instruments of one form or another that will reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon removal on agricultural land seems necessary for the European Union if it is serious about achieving its commitments under the Paris Agreement and meeting its obligations under its own Climate Law. The project makes a novel contribution to the legal scholarship in concluding that the most viable starting point for such stricter legislation would be to include methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock keeping and synthetic fertilizer use, respectively, under the European Union Emissions Trading System. To start with, this could be conducted by obliging meat and dairy processors and synthetic fertilizer producers to surrender allowances for the on-farm emissions associated with their products. This could be complemented by introducing a voluntary, but still highly regulated, carbon credits scheme that could encourage and reward farmers for reducing their own emissions and for transitioning to net-zero, and overall, more climate-resilient and environmentally friendly farming practices. Such credits could be offered for sale on the private carbon market as well as to Member State governments and the European Commission (through, for example, the Common Agricultural Policy, State Aid schemes, or the Innovation Fund). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the concept of green industrial policy in the context of the European Union (EU) under the European Green Deal—an initiative aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2050. While the European Green Deal emphasizes climate targets, it did not fully address the economic and social sustainability dimensions of the green transition. The EU, considering the growing concerns over the potential consequences of the United States Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and China’s assertiveness in the value chains of clean technologies, reassessed its green industrial policy approach in the Net Zero Industry Act proposal. Considering these developments, this study delves into the historical evolution of European industrial policy, evaluates the current proposals presented by the European Commission, and puts forth principles and recommendations for a green industrial policy that can effectively facilitate the green transition within the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the influence of the Environmental Integration Principle on the transformation of the EU Industrial Policy in the context of achieving sustainability goals, particularly after the adoption of the EU Green Deal. The article analyzes the regulatory content of the environmental integration principle, the evolution of the EU Industrial Policy, and the role of the principle in shaping industrial strategies and legislative instruments. It also examines the Draft Regulation for a Net-Zero Industry Act as an example of the reorientation of the EU Industrial Policy. The text discusses the environmental integration principle, which requires the incorporation of environmental considerations into EU policies and activities to promote sustainable development. The principle is set in Article 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and applies to all policies and activities outside of environmental policy. It has both procedural and substantive components, with the latter requiring that environmental considerations influence decision-making processes and balance competing interests. The exact contours of the principle's substantive content are difficult to determine due to the vague formulation of sustainable development objectives, but the EU Taxonomy Regulation provides a practical example of its implementation. The principle has become more significant with the adoption of the European Green Deal (EGD) and the need to achieve concrete environmental and climate objectives. The text discusses the evolution of the EU Industrial Policy and its integration of environmental considerations. It highlights the shift towards a more market-oriented approach and the inclusion of measures to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy. The text also mentions the role of regional [Extracted from the article]

The EU Green Deal requires the reduction in pesticides and fertilisers in food crop production, whilst the sustainable development goals require reductions in food loss and food waste. In a complex and interacting system like the food system, these goals are difficult to coordinate. Here, we show an approach using Bayesian network modelling for decision support. Bayesian networks are important tools for modelling complex systems which may develop emergent behaviour and for providing quantitative comparisons for different candidate policies, approaches or interventions under the Integrating Decision Support System paradigm. Using lettuce as an exemplar crop, we demonstrate that expected food loss changes under different agricultural input reduction and integrated pest management combinations can be quantified to aid decision making for growers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]