Economic stagnation cannot be the answer to the greenhouse effect. The arguments of the supporters of the "happy degrowth" are incorrect
On environment and commitment against global warming, Europe has performed fairly well. The objectives of the Kyoto Treaty were achieved, and last year, according to the International Energy Agency, the European contribution to global GHG emissions (anhydrite carbon, methane, nitrogen oxides) was 11.2%, half of that in North America and one third of that in China. The experience of the ETS (emissions trading system) was the most important system among so called "cap and trade".
Unfortunately these results partly depend on the recession and the lack of recovery that affected, in different ways, the European countries. The following two tables that follow show data (from Eurostat) on energy intensity (Table I) and on the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG Table II), for five countries of the euro and the three larger countries out euro area. Table I measures the energy, from any source, needed to produce a unit of GDP. It is a measure of the efficiency in the use of energy resources. Figures on the left indicate the 2013 levels, while those on the right changes in the five years after the economic crisis.
There is a significant dispersion, with Poland much above the average; the United Kingdom and Italy are the most efficient. Germany performs better than France both on level and on change over the period. Note the zero variation of Greece, which indicates that the decrease in energy was equal to the fall in GDP.
Table I Energy intensity (kgoe per 1,000 Euro)_____________________________________________________________
Level 2013 Change% 2008-2013
EU 141.6 -6.2
France 143 -5.3
Germany 130.6 -6.9
Greece 151.3 0
Italy 117.2 -4.2
Spain 128.6 -10.2
Poland 294.7 -12.3
Sweden 143.9 -6.7
UK 102.7 -7.7
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Table II of greenhouse gases GHG intensity (2000 = 100
____________________________________________________________
EU 90.8 -3.1
France 87.2 -3.2
Germany 97 +1.7
Greece 89.7 -2.3
Italy 87.6 -7.4
Spain 86.7 -5.1
Poland 91.4 -1.5
Sweden 82.5 -9.4
UK 94.4 -3.0
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Table II provides a rather different picture. Apart from Sweden, the countries with lower emission of GHG are Spain and Italy; the decrease in Italy, however, is greater than that of Spain, which is not surprising, given that the recession has hit in greater masure Italy, with a particularly serious fall in industrial production. In Greece, the reduction is limited, but Greece did not have a real industry. Note that the relationship between France and Germany is reversed, both in level and in the variations: in France there is a decrease, while in Germany there is an increase, and it is the only one among the major European countries. Reasons lay in increase of consumptions, the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, and perhaps also in the fake Volkswagen cars. The low level and the sharp decline of Sweden are due to the effects of serious environmental policies put forwards, with two decades of introduction of the carbon tax.
Economic stagnation cannot be the answer to the greenhouse effect. The argument of the supporters of the "happy degrowth", (among which the best known is Serge Latouche) are incorrect. They refer only to European countries and North America high income, but they have no listeners among Chinese or Indian people. It is not with the "simplicité volontaire" or the "sobriété heureuse" that one can stop the increase in temperature of the earth. Investments are needed, both public and private, on renewable sources, renovation of houses, eco-friendly cars. And also a true carbon tax.