Decarbonization in the U.S.
The U.S. needs to treat climate policy as economic policy much like the EU has done, argue Nahm and Urpelainen. The main reason is the U.S. dependence on Chinese imports for low-carbon energy technologies reminiscent of Europe’s dependency on Russian gas:
- China has increased its share of global solar photovoltaic production from less than 1 percent to over 60 percent of the world’s solar panels;
- For 15 of the past 17 years, China has added more production capacity for crystalline solar cells than any other country in the world;
- China dominates most individual steps in the supply chain for the production of electric cars: including the mining and production of nickel, cobalt, and lithium for the manufacturing of cathodes, anodes, and lithium-ion cells;
- Overall, in 2020, China accounted for 58 percent of global production capacity for wind turbine nacelles.
China’s dominance in the production of low-carbon energy technologies has national security implications in the United States and elsewhere. Without investments in alternative supply chains from raw materials to final assembly, meeting global climate goals could mean trading dependence on Russian fossil fuels for reliance on China for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy products. As the Ukraine crisis has demonstrated, such interdependencies are easily weaponized.
The US should treat climate policy as economic policy
By: Jonas Nahm, Johannes Urpelainen – Johns Hopkins University
Decarbonization in the EU
In this commentary Robert Stavins of Harvard University interviews Dan Jørgensen, the Danish Minister of Climate, Energy, and Utilities. Some interesting takeaways:
- The Russia-Ukraine war has made clear the importance of speeding up the green transition away from fossils in Europe. Jørgensen referred to important legislation being negotiated in the European Union which would create new directives on energy efficiency and renewable energy that could, he states, help EU countries greatly reduce their dependency on Russian fossil fuel;
- About the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), established in 2005 and which now covers more than 11,000 factories, power stations, and other installations in 31 countries, including all 27 EU countries, Jørgensen argued that this system functions as a safeguard of climate policies in periods of crisis when governments focus on dealing with the crisis at the expense of the climate.
Can Europe Decarbonize in the Midst of a Geopolitical Crisis?
By: Robert Stavins – Harvard University
