“It took a lot of political courage to formulate the European Green Deal and I think it will take even more to fully implement it”. In an online conference organised by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Thursday 27 April, its executive director, Hans Bruyninckx, spoke about the EU’s climate policy ambitions.
In his view, the ‘European Green Deal’ by targeting 2030 objectives, is a “springboard to 2050”. However, to implement these profound changes, it would be necessary, according to the EEA Executive Director, to build on the European social model: “Europe will be able to prove that as a community of democratic countries, of states governed by the Rule of law, where we base policies on knowledge, science and rational choices, we can achieve the Green Deal”.
Having already proved its worth in the aftermath of the Second World War, with the creation of social safety nets and strong education and health systems, this model is, according to Mr Bruyninckx, an ideal framework for the ecological transition. “Within the framework of this model, we must be able to show that we can achieve the kind of sustainability proposed by the Green Deal. This is for me the great challenge for the next Commission, the next and the next...”, he said.
Furthermore, for Mr Bruyninckx, many of these European climate targets need to be translated at the local level, not only in national programmes, but also in the municipalities. “80% of European citizens live in cities. So this level is very important”, he stressed.
Furthermore, it is necessary, according to him, to reconsider the citizen dimension. “We are often told that we need to be clear when addressing citizens. That’s true. We need to do this as well as possible, and why not have the revolutionary idea of listening to them as well?”, questioned the EEA’s executive director, who thus proposes to integrate both citizens’ initiative projects and local support systems more closely into the European decision-making process and reflection on climate issues.
And in his view, there is no shortage of opportunities: “There are many ways to engage with citizens and make them key partners in these processes of positive change”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)