Böll·Europe

Shortly after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, prices for synthetic fertilisers skyrocketed. In 2022 in particular, many conventional farmers could barely afford the expensive artificial fertiliser. The “fertiliser crisis” should have been a good opportunity to break away from dependence on artificial fertilisers and use more environmentally friendly methods to increase soil fertility and improve soil health. However, conventional agriculture's dependence on fertilisers continues to grow, even though the climate footprint of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers in particular is devastating. Studies show that in 2018, the global nitrogen fertiliser supply chain was responsible for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the nitrous oxide released due to an overuse of fertilisers is 300 times more harmful to the climate than CO2. The global fertiliser industry is now presenting more climate-friendly solutions, but what can we make of them?

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This Böll·Europe Podcast episode explores the often overlooked link between international climate politics and gender perspectives. We discuss how climate change impacts women and marginalised communities, the inclusion of gender in global initiatives, and the crucial role of intersectional feminism in climate justice. We also examine the urgent measures governments should take in this super election year 2024.

Melanie Bernhofer talks with Sofiia Shevchuk, a Brussels-based expert on environment, gender, peace and security policy. She is the Co-founder of The Tide, an NGO that aims at building a community to find creative and innovative solutions to environmental challenges, gender inequality, and global insecurities. She also hosts the podcast “VONA TALKS” that is dedicated to these issues.

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For any question about the Böll·Europe Podcast and for cross-posting, contact Joan Lanfranco.

The European Parliament elections might be over, but that doesn’t mean that the constellation of power in the EU is all set in stone. In this episode, we’re looking at what the European election result means for the EU and the future of the Green Deal, how the Greens in the European Parliament are doing, what their priorities are and whether the Greens just might be a new power broker that’s necessary for the conservatives, social democrats and liberals to hold a stable majority. Roderick Kefferpütz, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's EU office, discusses this with Bas Eickhout, long-standing Member of the European Parliament from the Dutch Greens, and Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group.

If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button, leave a review, and share it with your friends and colleagues!

For any question about the Böll·Europe Podcast and for cross-posting, contact Joan Lanfranco.

More than 400 million people are expected to vote in the European elections on 6-9 June 2024, and decide on the next European Parliament. According to the polls, a shift to the right is expected in many EU countries, with populist, radical far right parties gaining votes and seats across the EU. What impact would this have? We will try to understand how the Europe we know might change in 2024 and foresee how the EU’s policy agenda and the direction of future EU legislation will be affected by it. And in line with this, we will also discuss the potential effects of an isolationist US administration after the November 2024 elections. Gail Rego talks to:

Shownotes:

Migration and economy are two main subjects leading the EU agenda and have been often used by national leaders as landmark topics to gain political consensus. However, the link between the legal pathway for migration and the economic - as well as demographic - crisis the EU is experiencing is rarely discussed. So, why is legal migration useful to address the EU's most pressuring challenges? What can be done to improve the current policies and to strengthen the respect of human rights, when addressing migration?

In this episode, we discuss the EU legal pathways that regulate migration and the importance of such policies for the EU economy and its demographic decrease. Last but not least, we discuss the phenomenon of irregular migration and EU Member States’ cooperation with third countries. To dig deeper into the subject, this episode's guests are:

20 years after the Thessaloniki Summit, where European Union leaders promised EU membership to Western Balkans countries, the prospects of the region joining the EU in the near future are vague. The EU's credibility has been weakened by constant obstacles, unjustified delays and Member States' vetoes. The Western Balkans, on the other hand, show an obvious stalemate in the EU-related reform process, in addition to ongoing bilateral disputes, unresolved issues of the past and democratic backsliding. Our host Gail Rego talks with members of the Western Balkans Strategy Group about the role of the EU on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and about Kosovo-Serbia relations:

• Agon Maliqi, a policy analyst, activist, and media writer. His most recent work has focused on political risk, growing democratic backsliding, and resilience to authoritarianism, based in Pristina and Tirana

Read the position paper "Enlargement uncertainty: Reframing EU-Western Balkans relations" by the Western Balkans Strategy Group.

Listen to our previous Böll·Europe Podcast episode #4 | Europride in Belgrade and LGBTIQ+ rights in the Western Balkans

Read all our content on Western Balkans.

In this episode, we discuss the relationship between the EU and China, how this relationship is shaped by national strategies adopted by EU Member States, and whether it is possible to imagine a European approach to China. Gail Rego talks to:

• Jacob Mardell is a research  analyst with six years’ experience exploring China’s global impact. Jacob is the author of the Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung EU's study "Towards a common European China strategy? Mapping EU Member States’ policy documents on China".
  

Check out our web dossier "Towards a common European China strategy? Mapping EU Member States’ policy documents on China".

All our content on China.

Climate change and disinformation on social media: at the very first sight, these topics  may appear unrelated. However, fostering the ecological transition in Europe, requires substantial effort  in terms of shaping  public discourse. Notably, debates occurring on social media are part of the public arena where citizens can be convinced about the need for  an ecological transition. And, therefore, disinformation can have a huge impact on climate change-related attitudes. What is online climate change mis- and disinformation? Where does it take place and why? How does EU policy making play into all of this?

In this Böll·Europe Podcast episode, our guests explore the concerning rise of climate change disinformation on prominent social networks. It highlights how social media has exacerbated the weaponisation of climate change within the context of culture wars and revealing the pivotal players who amplify climate misinformation and disinformation within online communities. Our guests also shed light on the climate disinformation policies implemented by very large platforms and describe the objective of the Digital Services Act in this regard.

To uncover this complex and fascinating topic, our host Gail Rego talks to Jennie King and Ana Romero-Vicente:

• Jennie King is Head of Climate Research and Policy at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). She has spearheaded investigations on climate denialism and ‘discourses of delay’ and is the co-author of ISD’s flagship reports such as ‘Deny, Deceive, Delay’.  She currently manages the COP Intelligence Units on behalf of Climate Action Against Disinformation’.

For more information:

• Check out the recording of the webinar “Polluting the truth about climate change”, an event jointly hosted by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and EU DisinfoLab

The U.S. and Europe have entered a new trade era under Biden's administration. A new cooperation agenda is being developed to tackle today's challenges, such as climate change and emerging technology, focusing on consumer protection, competition, digital issues, and energy. Despite the positive shift, trade rules are still used by some to influence domestic policies, often weakening regulations. For the citizens, this means that trade rules affect the E.U.'s efforts to protect consumers in the digital market and combat climate change. How to prevent trade rules from creating barriers to regulatory action? Is the new transatlantic cooperation agenda enough? To uncover this complex and fascinating topic, Gail Rego interviews:

Calli Schroeder, Senior Counsel and Global Privacy Counsel at EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Calvin Manduna, Senior Trade Policy Analyst at IATP, the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, also in Washington D.C.

They have both visited Brussels in June 2023, invited by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, a forum for transatlantic discussions on intellectual rights, internet society, and food between and among consumer organisations in the US and the EU.

Read also the commentaries:

• Regulating at a glacial pace: barriers to progress written into our trade regimes

Civil society proposals to reconcile trade rules with the need for regulatory action

In February 2023, the European Commission presented a Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition towards climate neutrality. Among other things, the Plan appears to foster the EU’s willingness to lead globally in the race for development of cleantech. Crucially, however, the Plan came in after US legislators passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022. And, meanwhile, China has also demonstrated its capacity to act on cleantech. This Böll·Europe Podcast episode takes stock of EU actions in the global race for cleantech leadership and what else needs to be on the agenda to achieve a 100% renewable Europe. Gail Rego interviews:

• Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Director - EU Programme at the Institute for Climate Economics

Read the factsheet "EU public finance landscape for cleantech" By Ciarán Humphreys and Thomas Pellerin-Carlin"