Building blocks of the European Union’s strategy for climate neutrality

Since the early 1990s, the European Union has nurtured the ambition to lead the fight against climate change. More recently, it has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and has implemented a wide range of policies to put itself securely on track. This chapter critically discusses four key building blocks of the current European Union’s strategy for climate neutrality. Carbon pricing in the EU is described firstly, focusing on the EU ETS and the forthcoming CBAM. Then the roles of electrification and clean molecules in the future European energy system are critically discussed. Finally, sustainable finance priorities, capacities and regulatory instruments put forward by the EU are reviewed, before a brief conclusion.