The Current Picture of the Transition to a Green Economy in the EU—Trends in Climate and Energy Policy versus State Security

This article presents the historical progression of changes and arguments indicating the need to move from fossil energy sources to the green economy in the European Union (EU) countries. It shows trends in the EU’s climate and energy policy compared to the rest of the world. At the same time, it points to the elements of the necessary compromise between the climate requirements and the energy security of countries and their economies. The aim of the article is to present the main quantitative challenges for the development of the green economy in the EU, which are analyzed from the perspective of the year 2030. For this year, specific values have been established to be achieved by European countries in several fundamental areas. On the other hand, the strategic goals and further development perspective are included until 2050. This undoubtedly indicates the complexity of the issue, which is intensified as a result of the various economic and political strategies of many European Union members. At the same time, as part of the analysis carried out, efforts are made to develop concepts and practical recommendations for the development of a green European economy.

Opportunities and Threats for Polish Power Industry and for Polish Coal: A Case Study in Poland

This article analyses opportunities and threats for the Polish power industry resulting from the EU climate and energy policy. The main assumptions of the policy and directives resulting from it with regard to climate protection and the use of renewable energy sources (RES) in the production of electricity and heat are presented. The negative effects (threats) for Poland in meeting the EU requirements are discussed. The paper also discusses the opportunities for Polish coal, proposing solutions to meet EU directives and to maintain energy security without having to give up Polish coal. Reference is made as well to the plans to liquidate the Polish mining industry, indicating solutions opposing such actions.

EU Climate and Energy Policy: How Myopic Is It?

This article investigates the shortsightedness or myopia of recent climate and energy policy (CEP) in the EU. To this end, it develops and applies a measurement tool of short-termism composed of four key criteria: (1) the reflection of science-based long-term thinking in the policy process and its output; (2) the degree to which mid-term greenhouse gas emission targets and accompanying policies align with science-based long-term objectives; (3) the stringency of the legislation; and (4) its adaptability. We use these criteria to assess the levels of short-termism of the EU’s 2020 and 2030 CEP frameworks and the (still evolving) European Green Deal (EGD). Overall, we find that the level of myopia of EU CEP has fluctuated and has advanced far less than the development of the nominal mid-term emission targets might suggest. The EGD’s 55% emission reduction target for 2030 only constitutes a return to the levels of alignment with science-based long-term objectives existing in the 2020 Package (making good on the regression of the 2030 Framework). It is primarily due to the maturing of long-term thinking and a ratcheting mechanism, that EU climate policy under the EGD can be considered less myopic than the 2020 Package (although the assessment remains preliminary pending the adoption of further implementing legislation). These findings lay the ground for future research that not only investigates reasons for the general myopia of (EU) climate policy, but also the drivers of the fluctuations over time.

Harnessing social listening to explore consumer cognitive bias: implications for upstream social marketing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how upstream social marketing can benefit from using social media commentary to identify cognitive biases. Using reactions to leading media/news publications/articles related to climate and energy policy in Australia, this paper aims to understand underlying community cognitive biases and their reasonings. Design/methodology/approach Social listening was used to gather community commentary about climate and energy policy in Australia. This allowed the coding of natural language data to determine underlying cognitive biases inherent in the community. In all, 2,700 Facebook comments were collected from 27 news articles dated between January 2018 and March 2020 using exportcomments.com. Team coding was used to ensure consistency in interpretation. Findings Nine key cognitive bias were noted, including, pessimism, just-world, confirmation, optimum, curse of knowledge, Dunning–Kruger, self-serving, concision and converge biases. Additionally, the authors report on the interactive nature of these biases. Right-leaning audiences are perceived to be willfully uninformed and motivated by self-interest; centric audiences want solutions based on common-sense for the common good; and left-leaning supporters of progressive climate change policy are typically pessimistic about the future of climate and energy policy in Australia. Impacts of powerful media organization shaping biases are also explored. Research limitations/implications Through a greater understanding of the types of cognitive biases, policy-makers are able to better design and execute influential upstream social marketing campaigns. Originality/value The study demonstrates that observing cognitive biases through social listening can assist upstream social marketing understand community biases and underlying reasonings towards climate and energy policy.