De-Coupling Nature Protection from Decarbonization Goals? A Comparison of Policy Programs in the EU and US

Decarbonization and nature conservation targets are related but often conflicting goals of climate action agendas. This tension is reinforced through the rise of green industrial policy, a concept used for policies seeking to synergize investment in technologies and infrastructure with the goal of net-zero emissions. Particularly aspects of deregulation to accelerate siting and permitting, but also the emphasis laid on resource extraction, digitalization / AI and intensified trade are key for agendas associated with green industrial policy that appear to question biodiversity and nature conservation goals. How distinct and politically relevant is this tension between the dual goals of decarbonization and nature protection?The paper explores this question in a comparison between the EU and US as two cases in which green industrial policy programs have been launched in clearly contrasting environments with regard to the embedding of net-zero targets in a broader agenda of nature conservation and regulatory density of rules relating decarbonization with environmental policy. A point of departure is the assumption that even under the Trump administration, some components of net-zero indfustrial policy are retained but entirely decoupled from the idea of nature conservation whereas the EU enacts a more gradual and cautious approach to reconcile ideas of competitiveness and environmental sustainability. Within this comparison, a focus is laid on the framing of policies and choice of policy instruments enacted through the IRA and its partial repeal in the US, and programs associated with the Net-Zero Industry Act and Clean Industrial Deal in the EU.