Event report

Over 85 participants in the German-Scandinavian Youth Dialogue agreed: The EU must become climate-neutral. The EU is currently doing enough to protect the climate and the environment, but only 6 % of young Europeans were convinced of it. But how can the EU achieve the 2050 climate-neutrality objective? What is a climate-friendly, socially and socially sustainable Europe? What can young people do to tackle the climate crisis? Delara Burkhardt, Member of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament and recent German MEPs, Monika Skadborg, Chair of the Danish Youth Climate Council and Ambassador of the European Climate Pact, and the young participants from Germany and Scandinavia at the English-speaking event, jointly responded to these and many other questions. Burkhardt was certain: “Without Fridays for Future, the European Green Deal would not have existed”. evidence that young people’s engagement in the climate crisis is urgently needed. However, when implementing the European Green Deal: A recent special climate summit of all EU Member States in Brussels remained unagreed. Skadborg was angry about this: “Possible climate policy is much more expensive for taxpayers in 20-30 years old than if they now get enough money to meet climate goals.” There is still a lot of money invested in non-green investments. Skadborg’s proposal was as follows: “We need “climate mainstreaming” in the EU budget, because if we want a green economy, but we do not invest much of the money of the budget, then this does not work.” In particular, public investment is needed, as many climate projects will only be profitable in the long term. So the EU must, together with the private sector, provide money for the ‘climate transition’. Skadborg also compared the current EU climate policy with a Christmas tree: Many wishes and projects are expressed, but it is still unclear what is ultimately below the tree, i.e. what is actually being implemented. In addition to the discussions on the achievement of climate objectives, negotiations on the preservation of biodiversity are still ongoing and there is little progress in the common agricultural policy. The fact that negotiations are often blocked is mainly due to the unanimity principle, which also applies to climate issues and, in particular, makes the phasing out of coal more difficult. Despite the often lengthy negotiations, Delara Burkhardt and Monika Skadborg agreed that the EU was in fact sufficiently competent for effective climate policy. On the contrary, it failed to transpose EU directives in the Member States. In addition, the social dimension of climate policy was the main focus of the participants’ interest. The climate crisis is particularly threatening people on low incomes. Women are also still more vulnerable to poverty than men due to the consequences of the climate crisis. BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) also had less financial resources to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis due to structural disadvantage. Therefore, in exchange with the participants, both speakers stressed the need to treat the climate crisis as a systemic crisis that needs to be addressed in a holistic and intersectional manner: Climate and feminism, climate and racism, climate and health, climate and justice must therefore be considered together. Participants played a very active role in this 1,5-hour online event in various ways. They participated in short questions, entered in writing via the chat or the participation tool Slido or intervened directly in the conversation. The event was moderated by Clara Föller, Federal Chair of the Young European Federalists (JEF) Germany, which concentrated and structured the questions and positions. The results were recorded, inter alia, in the form of a graphic recording, an imaginary protocol. The Citizens’ Dialogue on 31 May 2021 was promoted by the Foreign Ministry and organised by the non-partisan Europa Union Germany in cooperation with the Young European Federalists (JEF) Germany, the Europa Union Schleswig-Holstein, the Europe Direct Kiel and the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Justice, Europe and Consumer Protection in the framework of the Fehmarnbelt Days 2021. The event is part of the Citizens’ Dialogues “Europe — We need to talk!”. This report is to a large extent based on a detailed article from meeting europa.de. The full event report is available here: https://www.treffpunkteuropa.de/die-eu-will-klimaneutral-werden-und-jetzt?lang=fr