Comments
CLIMATE WATCH - In the sharpest possible contrast to the US approach to climate change, in a very grown-up adult fashion, the EU has publicly stated: “EU officials warn climate breakdown and wildlife loss are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy.” (Environmental Damage is Putting European Way of Life at Risk, Says Report, The Guardian, Sept. 29, 2025)
Whew!!! The world is still sane.
Like a cool refreshing late afternoon breeze, a great sense of relief has spread across the Continent. With a remarkable pitch-perfect admission, the EU informs its citizens of the truth no matter how much it hurts. The upside to this admission is an understanding by the citizens that something horrible is wrong. Ipso facto, they must pull together to do something about it. Definitively, this pulls everybody into the mix to be aware, be prepared, make sacrifices, if necessary, to make it right.
Not only has the EU warned about environmental degradation but also warned against “… weakening green rules… as far-right parties that deny the science of climate change gain ground across the continent. The US has also put pressure on EU leaders to buy its fossil fuels and ditch pollution standards that affect imported goods,” Ibid.
It's even worse than that: “In a speech at the UN on Wednesday, Donald Trump claimed without evidence that many European countries were on the ‘brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda’. The US president blamed a 37% drop in EU emissions since 1990 for lost jobs and factory closures,” Ibid.
Clearly, the way forward for climate change mitigation measures is truly and literally the fight of a lifetime as right-wing interests, which are rapidly gaining a foothold, adhere to anti-science conjecture sans evidence. Even Greta’s green Sweden is retreating from its commitments: “Last year, its fossil fuel emissions saw their biggest increase in 15 years. During that time period, carbon uptake by its vast forests have halved. And since the country swung to the right in its last general election, the government has slashed its investments in climate action. Researchers say Sweden’s policy shifts, and its evolving role as a frontrunner, is now contributing to the weakening of Europe’s climate agenda.” (Sweden, an Early Climate Leader, Is Retreating From Its Environmental Commitments, Part of an EU Trend, Inside Climate News, August 3, 2025)
The timing for withdrawals from climate change mitigation efforts and abandonment of national commitments to the Paris 2015 climate agreement could not possibly be worse. Evidence is ubiquitous that the climate system has morphed into the equivalent of a runaway freight train barreling down a mountainside with severely weakened brake linings.
And climate scientists are uniformly warning that disaster is right around the corner unless CO2 emissions are halted. Recent statements by climate scientists: “I am scared… Unless immediate action is taken, catastrophic sea level rise will hit during current lifetimes… We do not yet understand this abrupt 10-fold shift in global mean temperature in only one year; it’s never happened before… Global ecosystems are starting to fail… Earth is losing its resilience… This is the first time in human history we are forced to seriously consider we are destabilizing the entire planet, etc.”
The scientific community is speaking out at the highest levels like never before, warning that we are treading on dangerous levels of climate change, spewing CO2 into the atmosphere at all-time record amounts, well over +200% annualized rate since the turn of the century. Nobody in the year 2000 thought it was possible for annual CO2 emissions of 1.25 ppm in 2000 to skyrocket to 3.75 ppm in 2024, marking the largest yearly increase on record since measurements began in the 1950s. Indeed, given enough time, excessive CO2-heat-generation becomes a surefire destroyer of precious ecosystems that support life, e.g., the EU warning discussed herein.
It’s almost as if the Curse of Oblivion has overtaken sensibility. This curse erases identification of events from existence. It’s a preamble to an extinction event. But of course (wink-wink) extinction is not realistically possible, or is it? After all, in the real world, civilizations do go extinct, e.g., the Indus Valley Civilization went extinct around 1900 BCE because of environmental factors, as drought caused Saraswati River to die with widespread drought-caused agricultural failure; the Mayan Civilization Classic Period went extinct from overpopulation, environmental degradation, and prolonged drought (sounds too familiar). According to fact-based science, at least eleven (11) civilizations have gone extinct. Extinction is always in the cards; it’s just a matter of who’s dealing.
The recent European Environment Agency 7th report, published every five years, unintentionally endorses the onset of extinction; (1) 80% of protected habitat in poor or bad condition (2) the EU’s carbon sink has declined 30% due to logging, wildfires, and pests damage (3) transport and food emissions have barely budged (4) water stress is affecting 33% of Europeans (5) the entire EU is struggling to meet 2030 emissions targets. The EU report only found two of twenty-two specific policy targets for 2030 on track. Of major concern, the state of the natural environment was judged to be extremely worrying as no biodiversity indicators are on track to meet 2030 targets.
At issue is abrupt change in policy directions by EU leaders that have clearly shifted focus “from climate action to economic competitiveness,” thus weakening green policies as part of “simplification” that campaigners claim as “deregulation.” Oh My! climate change mitigation policy is now beholden to “deregulation,” which is the soft term for “elimination.” America has taken the leading role in deregulation, as the EU, in puppy dog fashion, follows along.
In simplest of terms, right-wing anti-science policy shifts as well as EU leadership shifts of climate action to economic competitiveness are derailing climate change mitigation and undercutting any chance to meet 2030 emissions targets as Net Zero 2050 looks like a distant apparition. The Curse of Oblivion never had it so good.
This article was originally published on Oct. 3, 2025 © Counterpunch
(Robert Hunziker, M.A. in Economic History from DePaul University and a member of Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society, is a freelance writer and environmental journalist. With over 200 published articles featured in more than 50 international journals, magazines, and online platforms, his work focuses on climate change, sustainability, and global ecological issues. Hunziker is a regular contributor to CityWatchLA, where he brings a global perspective to urgent environmental challenges facing Los Angeles and beyond.)
