Latest news with #WopkeHoekstra
Business Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
EU proposes joint borrowing to finance 400-billion euro crisis tool: sources
[BRUSSELS] The 400-billion euro (S$596 billion) crisis tool proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday (Jul 16) would be financed using joint borrowing, according to people familiar with the matter. The European Union's executive branch's new budget instrument for the period 2028-2034 would provide loans to countries so they can react faster to adverse events, said the people, speaking on the condition on anonymity. Brussels told member states that it would borrow money on their behalf to raise money for the instrument, they said. Such speed is required in emergencies like Covid or the energy crisis, which have battered the economy in recent years. The fund is likely to prove one of the most controversial aspects of the EU's budget plans, with a number of countries opposed to pooled liabilities, which they see as subsidising less fiscally prudent nations. The EU's US$2 trillion budget for 2028-2034 was bigger than many expected and drew a stiff rebuke from Germany, who dubbed it 'unacceptable.' In a first discussion with EU envoys on Wednesday evening, the commission admitted the new mechanism would be difficult to accept for some member states. They emphasised the tool would disperse money using loans, not grants. Strict controls Wopke Hoekstra, the EU's climate commissioner, told Bloomberg on Thursday that the mechanism would be funded using joint borrowing but that it would be subject to strict controls, including through unanimity among the bloc's 27 member states before any spending using the tool is signed off upon. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'This is something you have in your war chest as a potential option,' Hoekstra said in an interview. 'It can only be specific circumstances and with the explicitly given mandate of the member states. Not just when we finalise the budget, but then again in a specific crisis situation.' The yield on 10-year EU debt has risen since the start of the year to hover around 3.17 per cent, but remains below the peak seen in early March which followed the German government's plans to boost spending. The budget put forward on Wednesday kicks off a laborious process which will see the European parliament and the European Council, representing member states, weigh in. EU leaders need to give their unanimous backing. The budget must be agreed by the end of 2027. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the 400-billion euro mechanism would give the EU a 'shortcut' in times of crisis. The coronavirus pandemic was a seachange in EU policymaking with countries signing off on a roughly 800 billion euro recovery facility, financed using joint debt. But for many countries, like Germany, that was a one-off. 'Crisis is no longer the exception, but the norm,' she said. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Times
EU wants to see China taking more ambitious climate action
[BEIJING] The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Sunday (Jul 13), highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal. Hoekstra is in Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese officials on environmental and climate issues, at which he also wants to encourage China to stop building new coal-fired power plants and phase out use of the fossil fuel. 'We do encourage China to take more of a leadership role going forward and really hit the road with meaningful emission reductions in the next couple of years, and also move out of the domain of coal,' Hoekstra said. The number of coal power plants in the pipeline has been increasing in China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to the World Economic Forum. In the first three months this year, China approved 11.29 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power plants, exceeded the approval rate in the first half of 2024, a June report by environmental group Greenpeace showed. Last week, Hoekstra told the Financial Times the EU was holding off on signing a joint climate declaration with China unless Beijing pledges a greater commitment to reduce emissions. 'We are open to looking into a potential declaration, but ... the thing that is most important about these types of statements is the content that goes into it,' he said when asked about the issue, without specifying what commitment the EU hopes to see from China. Hoekstra said the EU is interested in seeking areas of cooperation with China ahead of the COP30 UN climate conference that will be held in Brazil in November. REUTERS
Reuters
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
EU wants to see China taking more ambitious climate action
BEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) - The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Sunday, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal. Hoekstra is in Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese officials on environmental and climate issues at which he also wants to encourage China to stop building new coal-fired power plants and phase out use of the fossil fuel. "We do encourage China to take more of a leadership role going forward and really hit the road with meaningful emission reductions in the next couple of years, and also move out of the domain of coal," Hoekstra told Reuters in an interview. The number of coal power plants in the pipeline has been increasing in China - the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to the World Economic Forum. In the first three months this year, China's approved 11.29 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power plants exceeded the approval rate in the first half of 2024, a June report by environmental group Greenpeace showed. Last week, Hoekstra told the Financial Times the EU was holding off on signing a joint climate declaration with China unless Beijing pledges a greater commitment to reduce emissions. "We are open to looking into a potential declaration, but ... the thing that is most important about these types of statements is the content that goes into it," he said when asked about the issue, without specifying what commitment the EU hopes to see from China. Hoekstra said the EU is interested in seeking areas of cooperation with China ahead of the COP30 U.N. climate conference that will be held in Brazil in November.
Euractiv
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
INTERVIEW: Climate commissioner says EU needs to be ‘street smart' in how it meets green targets
The EU needs to be "pragmatic" and "street smart" when figuring out how to meet its self-imposed climate targets, even if it means outsourcing action to the developing world and tweaking previously agreed laws, Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told Euractiv in an interview. Last week, the European Commission proposed a 2040 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 90% below 1990 levels – a full year after the deadline set in the EU Climate Law, which commits the bloc to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Hoekstra used the delay to build support among member states for the target, as political momentum behind the Green Deal – the hallmark of Ursula von der Leyen's first term – began to slow. 'There is exceptionally strong support for the true north of a 100% emissions reduction by 2050,' Hoekstra told Euractiv. At the same time, he acknowledged it was 'a very fair ask of many member states' to ensure climate policies are more tightly linked to competitiveness than before. Hoekstra also said the many conversations he has had with European leaders and MEPs in recent months had convinced him there was still "overwhelming support" for "ambitious climate goals." One outcome of this shuttle diplomacy, he said, was a recognition that the target would only be politically viable if governments were granted some flexibility, notably, the option to outsource part of their climate action to the developing world. Open to carbon credits Hoekstra said he has always been 'intellectually open' to the idea of using carbon credits – a concept codified at the UN level at last year's COP29 conference in Baku – to monetise climate action in the developing world. 'We know how not to do it,' he said, acknowledging that past offsetting schemes had been marred by accusations of greenwashing. It would only work if the system is 'credible, verifiable and additional,' he added. 'Humanity has pulled off, even in the way of climate action, way more complication things that planting trees, or CCS, or renewables at scale,' Hoekstra said. Planting trees and deploying renewables are widely accepted solutions, especially in Europe, which lacks domestic fossil fuel reserves. Yet carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains controversial – and politically dormant in Brussels until recently. Now, the oil and gas industry, long a backer of CCS, is required under EU law to jointly develop infrastructure - typically using depleted gas fields - capable of permanently storing 50 million tonnes of CO2 a year from 2030. The idea is that with nowhere to store it, no one will invest in carbon capture technology. But industry players now say the target is unfeasible, prompting speculation that the Commission might revisit the rules as part of its regulatory 'simplification' push. Failing that, it might have to take action against petroleum firms for missing the target. Clear on tech neutrality 'Let's not run into hypotheticals now,' Hoekstra said, insisting the Commission maintains 'a completely neutral view' on which technologies will ultimately prevail. 'We very much embrace renewables. We also embrace nuclear,' he said. 'We embrace CCS,' he added, citing a €180 million EU-backed carbon capture project he recently visited in Sweden. The EU's climate chief also rejected claims that the Commission's efforts to reduce red tape amount to deregulation or the dismantling of the Green Deal. 'We are in one of the largest transitions, certainly in the domain of energy, that humanity has ever gone through,' he said. 'We have a very clear true north, and we're also very clear on our overall approach.' 'But does it then make sense to be pragmatic and to be street smart on the how? I think it does.' Acknowledging the cost of transition Hoekstra also acknowledged the scale of investment and social costs tied to the planned energy transition – the EU's decarbonisation agenda he now describes as a combination of 'a climate strategy, competitiveness strategy, and an independence strategy'. 'Let's not make the mistake of confusing costs with investments,' he added, pointing to the €400 billion Europe would still spend annually to import oil and gas 'even if you kick out the Russians'. 'This only happens if [there is] the predictability that pension funds and other large investors are looking for,' he said. Hoekstra rejected the idea that amending recently adopted laws through a series of 'omnibus' proposals would undermine that very predictability. Citing the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – the import tariff based on the carbon footprint of certain staple commodities – he noted that 90% of companies originally included had been removed from scope while it still captured 99% of emissions. 'Why did we include them in the first place?' Hoekstra asked. 'Couldn't it be true that our design was, maybe, good but not do you then choose?' 'Do you course keep running against the same wall all the time?' (de, jp)
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU holds back on signing climate action pledge with China, FT says
July 7 (Reuters) - The European Union is holding back on signing a joint climate action pledge with China at a summit this month to mark a half-century of diplomatic ties, a top climate official told the Financial Times in remarks published on Monday. The EU's climate targets are among the world's most ambitious, but they have been based entirely on domestic emissions cuts. Now the bloc faces a mid-September deadline to submit a new 2035 climate target to the United Nations. Brussels has refused Beijing's repeated requests for a mutual climate commitment after the summit of the world's second- and third-largest economies, unless China promises to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, EU officials said. "There is only merit in having a declaration from our perspective if there are also content nuts to be cracked and ambition to be displayed," Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told the paper. China has always been actively promoting green and low-carbon development, a foreign ministry spokesperson said in response to the comments. "We will continue to work with other countries to strengthen international cooperation on climate change, and contribute to the green transformation and sustainable development of humankind," the spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular briefing. China, which has been struggling to strike a balance between fostering economic growth and reaching environmental goals, is expected to miss a five-year goal for an 18% cut in carbon intensity by the end of this year. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and the European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
