In the current Yearbook of European Integration, numerous authors analyze European policy developments in various policy fields in the years 2021/2022. Klaus Jacob analyses European environmental and climate policy. Milestones in the reported period were the Fit for 55 packages, the European Climate Change Act, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Sustainable Finance Strategy.  

The basic goal of European climate policy is to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030 and to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. The policy package includes amendments to existing instruments, such as the Emission Trading System and the Energy Efficiency Directive, and new regulations, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Alternative Fuels Regulation.   

Jacob analyzes the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on European climate policy. On the one hand, there is a risk that the consequences of the pandemic and war will delay important climate projects, such as the transformation of agriculture. On the other hand, this presents new opportunities, for example for the accelerated expansion of renewable energies to secure energy supplies independently of Russia.