If 2018 showed us anything – aside from that satire is dead – it’s that climate change, plus the policies that influence it, are in the spotlight more than ever before.

This year will prove the litmus test, but signs suggest the state of our planet is no longer a niche subject confined to green parties and environmental groups. Most political forces are taking an interest because, cynically speaking, it’s become a vote-winner. Green parties across Europe registered stunning successes last year, in Bavaria, Belgium and Luxembourg. There’s even an outside chance the coveted energy commissioner job might go to one of their ranks after the Parliament elections in May.

Even the main conservative candidates vying to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker made a point of including it in their campaign pledges, somewhere between tackling the ‘migration crisis’ and job creation.

EU Brexit tsar Michel Barnier spoke of a “Green Europe” recently in a speech meant to remind everyone that he’s very much still in the running to take the EU’s top job.

People are cottoning on that we might be approaching a cliff edge. Climate change regularly tops the polls of most concerning issues. That’s partly because of a damning UN report from October into the effects of global warming. It made uncomfortable reading, confirming that we are in for a very rough ride if we don’t take drastic action.

In November, the European Commission showed its own climate cards with an ambitious strategy meant to deliver “carbon neutrality” by the year 2050 and 2019 will see EU members deciding how to implement it.

The plan includes a swathe of options, from relying heavily on carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is still in its infancy, to beefing up recycling and circular economy efforts. If EU capitals put their faith in technology that literally sucks emissions out of the air, then expect the industry to finally take off as big players pump mega-bucks into its deployment, but it’s far from a done deal. A report by the EU’s auditors last year showed taxpayer-funded attempts to build a business case for CCS had almost completely failed.

Tough talks about the 2050 outlook are expected, as countries such as France, the Netherlands and Spain treat climate issues very differently from the likes of the Czech Republic, Greece or Poland.

Of course, it looks likely a seat will be left empty at the negotiating table, as at time of writing the UK was still on course to plunge out of the EU on 29 March 2019.

As an Erasmus alumnus and partner of someone I met doing a traineeship for an EU institution, it’s an understatement for me to say that the UK leaving is a huge shame, let alone an unparalleled risk.

It’s a shame for the rest of the bloc, too, as one overlooked area is the nation’s behind-the-scenes impact on energy and climate policy. The UK is not the ‘big bad’ many like to portray it as. Not always, anyway.

Commission officials are already lamenting the departure of the Brits, as many of their old hands within the bowels of the big EU machine have been the voice of reason during talks on thorny issues.

Last year was a good one for Europe’s green energy scene, as plunging generation costs and an increasing carbon price hit home, but Germany – with its reliance on coal power – was a frustrating partner during many negotiations as troubles at home and vested interests dampened the efforts of other countries to approve ambitious clean energy laws and CO2 rules for cars. Don’t expect any change on that front in 2019.

More pressing still is the EU’s joint commitment to the Paris Agreement. It is broadly accepted that Brussels will have to agree tougher emissions cuts than the current ‘40 per cent by 2030’ target. MEPs are calling for at least 55 per cent, while others want even more. There is a 2020 deadline, so that debate is likely to dominate late 2019.

Brussels will go about its business with or without the UK, because the EU has finally realised there’s a far bigger game afoot.

If 2018 showed us anything – aside from that satire is dead – it’s that climate change, plus the policies that influence it, are in the spotlight more than ever before.

This year will prove the litmus test, but signs suggest the state of our planet is no longer a niche subject confined to green parties and environmental groups. Most political forces are taking an interest because, cynically speaking, it’s become a vote-winner. Green parties across Europe registered stunning successes last year, in Bavaria, Belgium and Luxembourg. There’s even an outside chance the coveted energy commissioner job might go to one of their ranks after the Parliament elections in May.

Even the main conservative candidates vying to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker made a point of including it in their campaign pledges, somewhere between tackling the ‘migration crisis’ and job creation.

EU Brexit tsar Michel Barnier spoke of a “Green Europe” recently in a speech meant to remind everyone that he’s very much still in the running to take the EU’s top job.

People are cottoning on that we might be approaching a cliff edge. Climate change regularly tops the polls of most concerning issues. That’s partly because of a damning UN report from October into the effects of global warming. It made uncomfortable reading, confirming that we are in for a very rough ride if we don’t take drastic action.

In November, the European Commission showed its own climate cards with an ambitious strategy meant to deliver “carbon neutrality” by the year 2050 and 2019 will see EU members deciding how to implement it.

The plan includes a swathe of options, from relying heavily on carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is still in its infancy, to beefing up recycling and circular economy efforts. If EU capitals put their faith in technology that literally sucks emissions out of the air, then expect the industry to finally take off as big players pump mega-bucks into its deployment, but it’s far from a done deal. A report by the EU’s auditors last year showed taxpayer-funded attempts to build a business case for CCS had almost completely failed.

Tough talks about the 2050 outlook are expected, as countries such as France, the Netherlands and Spain treat climate issues very differently from the likes of the Czech Republic, Greece or Poland.

Of course, it looks likely a seat will be left empty at the negotiating table, as at time of writing the UK was still on course to plunge out of the EU on 29 March 2019.

As an Erasmus alumnus and partner of someone I met doing a traineeship for an EU institution, it’s an understatement for me to say that the UK leaving is a huge shame, let alone an unparalleled risk.

It’s a shame for the rest of the bloc, too, as one overlooked area is the nation’s behind-the-scenes impact on energy and climate policy. The UK is not the ‘big bad’ many like to portray it as. Not always, anyway.

Commission officials are already lamenting the departure of the Brits, as many of their old hands within the bowels of the big EU machine have been the voice of reason during talks on thorny issues.

Last year was a good one for Europe’s green energy scene, as plunging generation costs and an increasing carbon price hit home, but Germany – with its reliance on coal power – was a frustrating partner during many negotiations as troubles at home and vested interests dampened the efforts of other countries to approve ambitious clean energy laws and CO2 rules for cars. Don’t expect any change on that front in 2019.

More pressing still is the EU’s joint commitment to the Paris Agreement. It is broadly accepted that Brussels will have to agree tougher emissions cuts than the current ‘40 per cent by 2030’ target. MEPs are calling for at least 55 per cent, while others want even more. There is a 2020 deadline, so that debate is likely to dominate late 2019.

Brussels will go about its business with or without the UK, because the EU has finally realised there’s a far bigger game afoot.