The topic of ‘green energy’ and the development of renewable energy sources (RES) is one of the most fashionable in recent years. It seems that everything is logical and justified both ecologically (oil and gas production, with all levels of precaution still cause considerable harm to the environment) and economically (extraction and export-import of traditional fuel cost countries a significant amount of money). However, the victory of Joe Biden in the US presidential election, actively and even aggressively lobbying for the ‘green’ economy, began to give the issue a political color.
Grandiose plans of the US and Europe
In one of his first decrees, new President Joe Biden initiated the US’s return to the Paris Climate Agreement. As is known, the plans of the new US president include the construction of new nuclear power plants and the development of the electric transport market. Moreover, the new US government is going to provide subsidies to buyers of electric vehicles. Biden’s global goal is to achieve zero emissions in the electricity sector by 2035. His $2 trillion plan includes investments in carbon capture and storage technologies, electric vehicles’ production, and hydrogen energy.
However, all these plans harm the economies of oil and gas producing countries. Moreover, experts fear that they will affect the price market in the short term. Although experts also point out that stricter regulation of the shale industry may in the coming years become an additional advantage for the OPEC+ countries and Azerbaijan as well - we already know how the growth of shale oil production in the US negatively affects the world market. On the other hand, Biden took this area seriously, planning to tighten control over its production technologies.
The ‘green economy’ is popularized even more widely in Europe: by the end of 2020, alternative energy in Europe for the first time overtook generation conventional energy using fossil fuels, reads a report of the British think tank Ember and the German Agora Energiewende.
Moreover, the most significant correction of the EU’s history’s economic course is designated precisely as the ‘Green Deal - 2050.’ It is a voluminous document, adopted on December 11, 2019, which lays out the EU’s path towards climate neutrality and a radical reduction in pollution levels by 2050. The roadmap assumes the transition of all parts of the economy - production, sales, and consumption - to 'green' economy.
The plans are to optimize the use of resources and reduce wastes. The experience of achieving the set goals in the EU is expected to stimulate other regions and states to follow this example for the benefit of future generations, including as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) program adopted in 2010.
In other words, environmental safety has become a vital issue on the political agenda in the West. Growing concerns about environmental pollution and climate change promote the electoral support of the 'green' parties and their leaders.
https://report.az/en/analytics/green-light-key-issue-on-agenda/