BRUSSELS — The European Commission has unveiled a new plan to end the dominance of planet-heating fossil fuels in Europe’s economy — and replace them with trees. The so-called Bioeconomy Strategy, released Thursday, aims to replace fossil fuels in products like plastics, building materials, chemicals and fibers with organic materials that regrow, such as trees and crops. “The bioeconomy holds enormous opportunities for our society, economy and industry, for our farmers and foresters and small businesses and for our ecosystem,” EU environment chief Jessika Roswall said on Thursday, in front of a staged backdrop of bio-based products, including a bathtub made of wood composite and clothing from the H&M “Conscious” range. At the center of the strategy is carbon, the fundamental building block of a wide range of manufactured products, not just energy. Almost all plastic, for example, is made from carbon, and currently most of that carbon comes from oil and natural gas. But fossil fuels have two major drawbacks: they pollute the atmosphere with planet-warming CO2, and they are mostly imported from outside the EU, compromising the bloc’s strategic autonomy. The bioeconomy strategy aims to address both drawbacks by using locally produced or recycled carbon-rich biomass rather than imported fossil fuels. It proposes doing this by setting targets in relevant legislation, such as the EU’s packaging waste laws, helping bioeconomy startups access finance, harmonizing the regulatory regime and encouraging new biomass supply. The 23-page strategy is light on legislative or funding promises, mostly piggybacking on existing laws and funds. Still, it was hailed by industries that stand to gain from a bigger market for biological materials. “The forest industry welcomes the Commission’s growth-oriented approach for bioeconomy,” said Viveka Beckeman, director general of the Swedish Forest Industries Federation, stressing the need to “boost the use of biomass as a strategic resource that benefits not only green transition and our joint climate goals but the overall economic security.” HOW RENEWABLE IS IT? But environmentalists worry Brussels may be getting too chainsaw-happy. Trees don’t grow back at the drop of a hat and pressure on natural ecosystems is already unsustainably high. Scientific reports show that the amount of carbon stored in the EU’s forests and soils is decreasing, the bloc’s natural habitats are in poor condition and biodiversity is being lost at unprecedented rates. Protecting the bloc’s forests has also fallen out of fashion among EU lawmakers. The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is currently facing a second, year-long delay after a vote in the European Parliament this week. In October, the Parliament also voted to scrap a law to monitor the health of Europe’s forests to reduce paperwork. Environmentalists warn the bloc may simply not have enough biomass to meet the increasing demand. “Instead of setting a strategy that confronts Europe’s excessive demand for resources, the Commission clings to the illusion that we can simply replace our current consumption with bio-based inputs, overlooking the serious and immediate harm this will inflict on people and nature,” said Eva Bille, the European Environmental Bureau’s (EEB) circular economy head, in a statement. TOO WOOD TO BE TRUE Environmental groups want the Commission to prioritize the use of its biological resources in long-lasting products — like construction — rather than lower-value or short-lived uses, like single-use packaging or fuel. A first leak of the proposal, obtained by POLITICO, gave environmental groups hope. It celebrated new opportunities for sustainable bio-based materials while also warning that the “sources of primary biomass must be sustainable and the pressure on ecosystems must be considerably reduced” — to ensure those opportunities are taken up in the longer term. It also said the Commission would work on “disincentivising inefficient biomass combustion” and substituting it with other types of renewable energy. That rankled industry lobbies. Craig Winneker, communications director of ethanol lobby ePURE, complained that the document’s language “continues an unfortunate tradition in some quarters of the Commission of completely ignoring how sustainable biofuels are produced in Europe,” arguing that the energy is “actually a co-product along with food, feed, and biogenic CO2.” Now, those lines pledging to reduce environmental pressures and to disincentivize inefficient biomass combustion are gone. “Bioenergy continues to play a role in energy security, particularly where it uses residues, does not increase water and air pollution, and complements other renewables,” the final text reads. “This is a crucial omission, given that the EU’s unsustainable production and consumption are already massively overshooting ecological boundaries and putting people, nature and businesses at risk,” said the EEB. Delara Burkhardt, a member of the European Parliament with the center-left Socialists and Democrats, said it was “good that the strategy recognizes the need to source biomass sustainably,” but added the proposal did not address sufficiency. “Simply replacing fossil materials with bio-based ones at today’s levels of consumption risks increasing pressure on ecosystems. That shifts problems rather than solving them. We need to reduce overall resource use, not just switch inputs,” she said. Roswall declined to comment on the previous draft at Thursday’s press conference. “I think that we need to increase the resources that we have, and that is what this strategy is trying to do,” she said.

The fossil fuel industry is exploiting Europe’s scramble to replace Russian gas to lock the continent into a long-term dependence on dirty energy, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore told POLITICO in an interview. “They’re way better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions,” said Gore, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his efforts in raising awareness of climate change. Gore said Russian President Vladimir Putin weaponized Russian gas “as a tool to bully Europe” into not responding to his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That compelled the EU to find short-term energy fixes that fossil fuel companies turned into an economic opportunity. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe spiked after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as pipeline supplies from Russia were crimped. The imports helped Europe navigate an energy crisis and, with supply from other countries and the ramping up of green energy, put Europe in a position to detach fully from Russian gas by 2027, according to the European Commission. In July, Brussels pledged to purchase $750 billion in energy supplies from the U.S. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the effort, part of an EU-U.S. trade deal, would “replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of U.S. LNG, oil, and nuclear fuels.” “I think that Europe, in spite of the extreme difficulties imposed by Russia, has navigated that balance fairly well,” said Gore, who was speaking to POLITICO to announce new Climate TRACE data, a worldwide emissions-tracking initiative he co-founded in 2020 that draws on more than 660 million sources of air pollution. At a time when Brussels is scaling back many of its green ambitions, Gore believes that Europe’s leadership role remains secure, even as the EU’s commitment to tackling climate change is under scrutiny in the run-up to COP30 this November in Brazil. “I think that, with all of the controversies and difficulties in getting the member states to agree on the path forward, nevertheless, if you step back and take a broader view, the EU has been a climate hero in the community of nations and regions of the world. I have every confidence that they will continue to play that role,” said Gore. He noted that Europe as a continent is warming faster than any other, with wildfires raging through Spain, Greece and Portugal. “For those who are inclined, for whatever reason, to take their instructions from the fossil fuel polluters, they now have to listen to Mother Nature,” he said. “They have to respond to more forceful demands by the people in Europe to take action.”

Europe must act quickly to face extreme heat as temperatures surpass 40 degrees and thousands of excess deaths are predicted in the coming days. Southern Europe is in the midst of a soaring heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 46 degrees Celsius in Spain’s Huelva region — a new national record for June. Meanwhile, Italy, Greece, Portugal and the Western Balkans are also facing scorching highs, along with wildfires and civilian victims. A World Health Organization expert issued a stark warning on Monday, calling for more action to stop tens of thousands of “unnecessary and largely preventable deaths.” “It’s no longer a question of if we will have a heatwave, but how many are we going to experience this year and how long will they last,” said Marisol Yglesias Gonzalez, technical officer for climate change and health at the WHO in Bonn. As for how many people could be at risk, Pierre Masselot, a statistician at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told POLITICO this heatwave could cause more than 4,500 excess deaths between June 30 and July 3. The countries likely to experience the highest excess death rates are Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Luxembourg, he said. “The worst days will likely be [Tuesday] and Wednesday.” Heat claims more than 175,000 lives across the WHO’s Europe region — spanning from Iceland to Russia — each year. A major study co-authored by Masselot and published in January, which covered 854 European cities, warned that deaths from heat would rise sharply if significant climate adaptation is not prioritized. The WHO on Monday echoed that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, means heatwaves will become more frequent, dangerous and intense, leading to more serious illness and death. Almost two-thirds of Spanish towns have been slapped with health risk warnings, including 804 at the highest alert level, according to data from the Aemet national weather agency. A spokesperson stated that intense heat is expected across the country until July 3. Meanwhile, heat alerts are also in place in France, Italy, Portugal and Greece. Southern Europe is in the midst of a soaring heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 46 degrees Celsius in Spain’s Huelva region — a new national record for June. | Toni Albir/EPA The Greek government has also issued warnings about air pollution from wildfires that have ripped through coastal towns near Athens. Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people have been evacuated in Turkey, primarily due to a fire near Izmir. In Albania, 26 wildfires were reported between Sunday and Monday, while in Serbia, meteorologists reported that last Thursday was the hottest day since records began in the 19th century. The WHO has advised staying hydrated, avoiding the midday heat and keeping homes cool, particularly for vulnerable groups, including older adults, children, outdoor workers, pregnant women and individuals with chronic health conditions. Those on medications like antidepressants or blood pressure drugs should also take care, Yglesias Gonzalez said, as these can affect the ability to regulate body temperature. However, it’s not just about managing heatwaves when they strike, but also about being more prepared, the WHO said. In a 2022 survey, only 21 of the 57 countries in the WHO Europe region reported having a national heat-health action plan. Of those, 14 were in the EU. Of the WHO’s core recommendations, the most commonly implemented are timely alert systems and communication campaigns. But countries are lagging in preparing their health systems and preventing heat exposure through better urban planning, Yglesias Gonzalez said. The WHO will issue new updated guidance for governments next year, including advice on “people-centered cooling” strategies at the urban and regional level to protect people from heat, she added.