Speech by UNEP Europe Office Director at EESC conference on the geopolitics of the European Green Deal - 6 December 2021

Speech by Bruno Pozzi, Director, UNEP Europe Office taking part in the panel "Leading climate efforts" at the conference on the geopolitics of the European Green Deal, organised by EESC on 6 December 2021.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

The science is crystal clear. We are facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity, and pollution.

UNEP’s latest Emissions Gap Report reveals that we are currently headed towards a temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, compared to pre-industrial times. Governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Meanwhile, around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. We need not look further than COVID-19, a zoonotic disease, to know that the finely-tuned system of the natural world has been disrupted.

Pollution and waste results in the premature death of millions across the world. Every five seconds, somebody dies prematurely due to air pollution, for example.

We therefore need to end our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to replant and protect our forests, and to clean up our air, rivers and seas. If given half a chance, nature can bounce back.

The heat is on. We know what we need to do. We know how to do it. We know the benefits of action, and the consequences of inaction. Now we need to raise our ambition. 

But how can the European Green Deal help to deliver this?

There are two values that I believe can act as a guide.

One is, quite simply, sustainability. We need to be as ambitious as possible in cutting emissions, protecting and restoring biodiversity, and fighting pollution.

We therefore welcome the European Union’s revised 2030 climate target of achieving at least a 55% cut in emissions compared to 1990. We will now need to see how this is carried out for individual sectors and member states under the ‘Fitfor55’ package.

The biodiversity and ‘farm to fork’ strategies on the table also show unprecedented ambition. Unlike their last editions, they focus more on restoring biodiversity rather than stemming its loss. This is essential if we are to support the new upcoming global biodiversity framework.

The second value I would propose in guiding this transition is solidarity. Ensuring a truly just transition is going to be vital in securing support for the Green Deal in Europe and beyond. Environment, at large, is a question of social justice.

We cannot leave anyone behind. To quote from a recent track by Stromae, a Belgian artist who has  returned to releasing music:

“Pilote d'avion ou infirmière, chauffeur de camion ou hôtesse de l'air

Boulanger ou marin-pêcheur, un verre aux champions des pires horaires

Aux jeunes parents bercés par les pleurs, aux insomniaques de profession

Et tous ceux qui souffrent de peine de cœur, qui n'ont pas l'cœur aux célébrations”.

COVID has made us all stop to recognize and celebrate people that could be taken for granted in our societies. There are many others that could be added to Stromae’s list that must have a stake in the green transition.

This means that to have the inclusive green transition we need, we should be having a multilateral dialogue, to set out and explain new policies and trade tools, for example. And it means lifting people out of poverty in a way that keeps our species within planetary boundaries, for example by promoting a circular economy. The EU and its Member States have the power to help do these things that national policies alone cannot do in the same way.

For example, when it comes to fighting climate change, it is encouraging to see that the EU is co-leading a multilateral effort for a just energy transition in South Africa. We hope this can result in a template for other countries too. The bloc is also the world’s leading provider of climate finance, and we welcome the EU’s expressed readiness to step-up funding for adaptation. Indeed, estimated adaptation costs in developing countries remain five to ten times greater than current public adaptation finance flows, and the available evidence indicates that the adaptation finance gap is widening.

There is a reason why the European Green Deal is so important to the rest of the world too. 

When EU legislation is drafted in Brussels and Strasbourg, the eyes of the world are watching. When standards are set on electronic waste or eco-design, firms keep track from the Silicon Valley to Japan. Legislation or investment in renewable energy in Europe can help to set prices tumbling worldwide. Changes to how raw materials are imported or waste is exported can mean an improvement in the quality of life of the world’s poorest.

With the European Green Deal, many countries can benefit from the bloc’s experience in building environmental acquis. In turn, the EU can learn and apply improved standards and best practices from other parts of the world. Meanwhile, by applying strong safeguards to trade agreements, the Green Deal can ensure that new trade opportunities do not risk the acquis being undercut, or environmental damage being exported elsewhere. Working together across national boundaries, common global goods can in this way be protected.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When we see the names of the EU institution buildings which many of you will know well — De Gasperi, Campoamor, Robert Schuman, and others — we might not remember that all of them were toying with a question, or fighting for a dream: What is Europe? And what can Europe be?

Well, Europe is not just a place. Parts of the European Union are found in the Pacific and Caribbean. So it is more than a location.

Europe is also not just a set political ideology. With so many member states and changing governments, it cannot just be that.

Europe, I would argue, ladies and gentlemen, is primarily an idea. An idea based on a set of values. And I believe that, if guided by the right values in its implementation, the European Green Deal can help prove that multilateralism, and not divisive geopolitics, is the solution to fighting climate change and its connected environmental challenges, while ensuring a better future for all citizens. Thank you.

[ENDS]

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See here for more information from EESC about the event.