“Europe must change direction on the Green Deal if it wants to avoid decline.” Those are the words of Antonio D’Amato, Seda Group President, quoted in the headline of an interview printed in the Italian daily newspaper Il Foglio today.
The Green Deal isn't a good deal, D’Amato explains, being hobbled by an ideological rigidity that the new European Parliament has realised we need to abandon for the simple reason that it hasn't been working.
The myth of “happy degrowth” has hobbled the energy transition, while massive legislation without either technological neutrality or any scientific validation of environmental impact has weakened entire industrial sectors, and consequently the economic and social fabric of Europe. The alarming increases in intolerance and racism we have seen in recent years are among the effects.
There is scientific proof of the ecological damage caused, and clear evidence of the corrosive impact this misguided approach is having on the economy and competitiveness, with many companies being forced to delocalise outside Europe to escape suffocating hyperregulation.
D’Amato adds that the stock markets have also played a role in this, promoting naïve ESG criteria since the Paris Agreement.
All of this has played into the hands of other great powers, whose economic policies have been designed to make us structurally dependent on them, as Mario Draghi points out in his recent report.
But there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
D’Amato emphasises that European industry has played an incredibly positive role in steadily reducing its emissions through innovation. As a result, the continent now accounts for just 7% of global emissions and its emissions are continuing to fall.
Moreover, he explains, there is much we can do to restore Europe to global leadership, pursuing strategies and approaches that will make it more competitive in manufacturing, research and innovation. His hope is that Ursula von der Leyen and her new vice-presidents for the energy transition and industrial strategy are alive to this challenge.
D’Amato identifies three developments they need to support:
🔑 A step change in the European Union’s policies to restart economic growth.
🔑 Recognition that nuclear power can no longer be postponed.
🔑 The export of know-how, technologies and the circular economy to developing countries, starting with Africa, which other countries have been exploiting following a colonialist approach.
You can read the full interview on the Fondazione Mezzogiorno website: https://lnkd.in/dDKvpHQm
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