London pulls out of joint EU action on climate change

The energy agreements reached by the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) leave London out of joint EU action against climate change, but put its environmental objectives at the level of respect for democracy, human rights and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The trade agreement reached between the two sides, the details of which have been made public on Saturday, shows that the United Kingdom will exit from January 1, 2021 from the joint action of European countries against climate change, although the two sides will continue to respect key environmental principles, such as precaution, integration and the payment of damages by the polluter.

London will no longer be able to access the emissions trading system in the COMMUNITY area, a primary tool in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions, since it allows the distribution of the effort between European countries and the burden of meeting the decarbonization objectives.

Despite this, the United Kingdom and the European Union recognize being part of a “shared biosphere”, which means a joint coverage of the current objectives agreed in Brussels and included in laws that will remain in force after January also in British regulations, such as the waste recycling targets for 2030, water for 2027 and air pollution ceilings for 2030.

The EU and the UK also reaffirm their ambition to achieve climate neutrality across the economy by 2050, and place the fight against climate change on the same level as other essential elements such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The trade agreement includes guarantees on the security of energy supply, although London will leave the EU energy market with Brexit, which will mean that the British will be left out of the single European management (without technical or regulatory barriers) of the exchange of energy through electricity interconnectors.

The United Kingdom will also not remain in the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), the single market for trade in nuclear materials and technology, a matter that will be governed from January by a “separate agreement on safe and peaceful uses of nuclear energy”, where the two parties commit to comply with international non-proliferation obligations, without reducing the current level of nuclear safety standards.

Source: The Vanguard