Climate change: European disunion
Consensus across the continent on energy and emissions policy is severely lacking
The EU remains a global leader on carbon emissions reductions: renewables use is growing and the bloc should easily meet its 2020 target, while both governments and EU-based car makers have big plans to hasten the switch away from gasoline and diesel to electric vehicles. That's the good news. The bad news is that policy remains bitty and regional biases prevail. At June's G20 meeting in Hamburg, European leaders, along with those of China and other leading economies, put up what looked like a united front against US president Donald Trump's rejection of the Paris climate change accord. But not all is rosy in the garden—and not everyone in European capitals rejects Trump's thinking, at least
Also in this section
16 April 2026
Demand for oil is falling because supply cannot meet it, not because it is no longer required
16 April 2026
The continent has an immediate opportunity to make the most of its energy resources by capturing gas that is currently slipping away
15 April 2026
The continent is seeing political pushback to climate plans, corporate reassessment of transition goals and rising supply risk in a fractured global order
15 April 2026
The Middle East energy crisis may turn out to be pivotal to the industry’s long-term expansion, but significant challenges still stand in its way






