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Main Green Deal policies Main Green Deal policies

Main Green Deal policies and measures of relevance for international cooperation

• Climate mitigation. The ‘fit for 55’ package (2021) aims to realise the European Climate Law objectives: climate neutrality by 2050 and a 55 % reduction of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. The proposals aim to accelerate emission reductions in the sectors covered by the EU emissions trading system (ETS) and the sectors covered by the Effort-sharing Regulation, and to increase carbon removals in the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector.
• Climate adaptation. The EU Adaptation Strategy sets out how the European Union can adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and become climate resilient by 2050, based on four objectives: to make adaptation smarter, swifter and more systemic, and to step up international action on adaptation to climate change.
• Biodiversity. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 sets out a truly ambitious and far-reaching programme of measures to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in the EU and across the globe. It is closely linked to the CBD Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Circular economy. The Circular Economy Action Plan announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products. It targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption, and aims to prevent waste production and that resources are kept in the economy for as long as possible.
• Pollution. The Zero-Pollution Action Plan presents key 2030 targets to speed up reducing pollution at source. The action plan aims to strengthen the EU green, digital and economic leadership, whilst creating a healthier, socially fairer Europe and planet. It provides a compass to mainstream pollution prevention in all relevant EU policies, to step up implementation of the relevant EU legislation and to identify possible gaps.
• Mobility. The European Green Deal has a target to achieve a 90 % reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 within the EU. The New European Urban Mobility Framework provides guidance for local action on sustainable mobility, including on transport networks, urban logistics, multimodal terminals, walking and cycling, and the management of mobility flows.
• Agriculture. The Farm-to-Fork Strategy aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system that should have a neutral or positive environmental impact, help to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts, reverse the loss of biodiversity, ensure food security, nutrition and public health, making sure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, sustainable food, preserve affordability of food while generating fairer economic returns, fostering competitiveness of the EU supply sector and promoting fair trade.
• Forestry. The New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 recognises the central and multifunctional role of forests, and the contribution of forests and of forest-based value chains for achieving a sustainable and climate neutral economy by 2050 and preserving lively and prosperous rural areas.
• Sustainable finance. The EU Sustainable Finance Strategy is instrumental in reaching climate and environmental targets by enabling investors to re-orient investments towards more sustainable technologies and businesses. The strategy notably includes the European Green Bond Standard proposal and the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities. On the international front, the Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI) aims to support the expansion of green bond markets in the EU partner countries. Moreover, the Sustainable Finance Advisory Hub provides technical support for developing sustainable finance frameworks and sustainability-related financial instruments in partner countries. The hub will also assist GGBI partners in their expansion of green bond markets.
• Fair transition. A Council Recommendation sets out guidance to address employment and social aspects for a fair transition towards climate neutrality. Particular attention goes to people and households highly dependent on fossil fuels and that could be most affected by the green transition. With the right actions and policies in place, the green transition has the potential to create additional jobs.
• Education. EU Member States have confirmed their commitment to green education by adopting both a Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development and Council Conclusions on The transformative role of education for sustainable development and global citizenship as an instrumental tool for the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Some of the legislative initiatives prompted by the European Green Deal have implications for actors in third countries. For example, in relation to Regulation on deforestation and forest degradation or the Regulation establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). Greening EU cooperation can contribute to addressing the implications of these policy and legislative initiatives in third countries.

A timeline on the implementation of the Green Deal can be consulted here.

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I. Introduction