Transition to the Green Economy. A Comparative Analysis of the European Program Life in Romania and Spain on the Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Rising greenhouse gas emissions have led to extreme weather events, which have become increasingly frequent in recent years. These have serious consequences for people's lives and the global economy. In 2023, the European Union was the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. It is against this background that the Union is proposing a European Green Deal, aiming for climate neutrality, resource efficiency and economic competitiveness by 2050. This paper studies the impact of the European LIFE program which is one of the funding mechanisms of the Green Deal on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on the case study of Romania and Spain. The main aim is to determine whether LIFE funding contributes significantly to emission reductions by using econometric modeling to analyze various factors influencing emissions in the two selected countries, taking into account their socio-economic differences. The results of such a comparison between an economically developed country in Western Europe and an emerging economy in Eastern Europe may provide valuable insights into the impact of the EU's efforts to transition to a green economy, as well as the factors that continue to influence emissions in these distinct economies.