Swiss lecturer Bertrand Piccard, who successful flew around the world in his solar powered plane Solar Impulse, was one of the main “change-makers” who addressed the “European Ideas Lab”, organised by the European Parliament’s Greens/EFA Group in Brussels on 1-3 March.
Clean growth is better than today’s dirty status quo, he argued. In the course of a combative speech, Piccard, who has set himself the target of coming up with 1,000 viable solutions for the climate by the end of 2018, called on MEPs to “implement the innovations and solutions already in place to tackle climate change efficiently and quickly” and on environmentalists to “speak the language of those you are looking to persuade”.
In Piccard’s view, it is in everyone’s interest to take an inclusive, rather than individual, approach so that solutions can be arrived at more quickly. He hoped that those he highlights will result in concrete legislative proposals, backed by an alliance of political groups in the European Parliament.
A partnership between Solar Impulse and the European Commission was set up in February 2017 (see EUROPE 11756).
Piccard also laid emphasis on the need for dialogue with major companies, to show them that “protecting the environment is profitable”. The energy group Engie, which partners his initiative World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, would be “a fantastic player in climate change”.
His speech was enthusiastically received by many of those taking part in the event, such as MEP Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France) but did not have the same resonance with the members of the anti-globalisation organisation ATTAC, which calls for degrowth.
The Europe Ideas Lab event took place as inter-institutional negotiations have just begun on the clean energy legislative package (see EUROPE 11941). (Original version in French by Mathieu Solal - intern)