As part of the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Union spent 100 billion Euros to combat climate change between 2014 and 2020. But these funds, which make up half of the entire EU budget earmarked for the fight against climate change, have not led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

In Europe, the period 2020-2021 was to mark the turning point in the fight against plastic waste, one of the most urgent problems of our century. Then came the new Coronavirus: with masks, gloves, and anti-contagion packaging, the risk of a step back is increasingly concrete

Financial institutions from European countries have provided large sums of money to palm oil companies responsible for illegal fires and possibly deforestation in Indonesia.

With its "farm to table" strategy, the European Commission aims to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilisers and at the same time increase organic production by 2030. But how? 

Emissions are not for free in Europe. As a carbon trade system, the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) sets an annual cap and a price for emissions. Wijnand Stoefs, policy officer at Carbon Market Watch, says it should become “a more ambitious tool”.

The value of European fossil infrastructure protected by the Energy Charter Treaty is almost €345 billion, says research by Nico Schmidt and Oliver Moldenhauer at Investigate Europe. Lawsuits, allowed by the treaty, are likely to prevent states from adopting ambitious climate policies.

Climate change-related extreme events have seriously damaged the countries of the European Economic Area, accounting for loss of almost 3 percent of GDP for each country per year, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency. 

EU countries have reallocated €3.8 billion of EU structural funds away from climate action to enable a rapid response to the Covid-19 crisis. However, the European Commission hopes that the incoming fresh cash will reverse that trend.

Drawing inspiration from the long voyages taken by well-off European youths in centuries past, OBC Transeuropa takes us on a tour of global warming hotspots in south-east Europe.