Premium Content Rhetoric vs Reality: The EU’s Battle For Net Zero Emissions By Fernando C. Hernandez - Feb 17, 2021, 4:00 PM CST In the wake of the global race to reduce emissions, EU countries are struggling to implement a coherent policy approach or to align their actions with the high-minded rhetoric. While Denmark is banning offshore oil and gas leases in its quest to cease production in the Danish sector of the North Sea by 2050, it has also granted passage through its offshore waters for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. A pipeline that is reportedly back on track to annually transport over 50 billion cubic feet of gas from Russia to Germany. In France, Engie has halted its gas imports from the U.S. but is heavily involved in the Nord Stream 2 project. Meanwhile, Romania is installing an underwater pipeline in the EU’s portion of the Black Sea to transport gas to its shore. Such a division between policies and actions within the EU could threaten to undermine the message of the Paris Accord.