Change Talks: final #ClimateOfChange conference

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The #ClimateOfChange campaign concluded with over 111 000 people across Europe signing a petition to express their will for Climate Action and Social Justice to EU decision-makers. In the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, at the project’s closing conference in March, #ClimateOfChange ambassadors handed the petition over to the EU’s Deputy Director General for Climate Action, Clara de la Torre: “We want ambitious policies to build a transition towards climate and social justice,” they told her.

Ms de la Torre expressed EU support for #ClimateOfChange’s climate work and the petition’s call to EU action: “We need policies that take social, economic and human aspects into account. This is urgent, difficult and expensive, but it is still possible. The European Union is working at the forefront of the climate crisis.” 

A Lithuanian climate activist with the Fridays For Future movement spoke about how Russia’s war on Ukraine is affecting Climate Action in her country:  “The old climate change narratives no longer resonate with youth” and are not picked up by media, she explained. Priorities have shifted, even for her personally. “When the war started, I started looking for a different relationship with climate activism.” She has since found ways to connect her concern with the war and climate ambitions. She links the use of fossil fuel with Russia’s aggression and rocketing energy costs are pushing people to start saving energy - albeit often for purely financial motives. 

Other environmental issues that were not left untouched included climate migration, feminist development policy and climate advocates’ focus on green agricultural policy, as well as the EU’s proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence law. A coordinator from WeWorld, the project’s lead partner, welcomed the proposal, which would oblige companies to respect human and environmental rights along global supply chains. She highlighted the positive introduction of stakeholder consultations, reversal of the burden of proof and civil liability for misconduct and global damage. 

The day concluded with the young #ClimateOfChange ambassadors and partners making the petition results very visible with a media stunt projecting physical numbers in front of the European Parliament.

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Picture from climateofchange.info