In an open call published on Wednesday 27 November, Build Better Lives, a movement of 92 civil society organisations, called on the new Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, to “take full advantage of his new portfolio” by supporting an ambitious and socially just implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and delivering a European housing plan that provides “affordable, accessible and energy-efficient housing for all”.
The letter stresses the need to make the EU’s housing more efficient, based on renewable energies “to reduce dependence on harmful, expensive and unreliable fossil fuels” and thus strengthen the EU’s energy security while protecting people from energy poverty by reducing their energy bills.
For Laia Segura, Climate and Energy Justice Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, the EU needs to do more to end energy poverty, which affects 47 million Europeans. “We look to Commissioner Jørgensen to build a plan and pick up the right tools to make it happen”, she said.
To see the open call: https://aeur.eu/f/ej3 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)