EPC: The European Green Deal: How to turn ambition into action
04 November 2021
The EU can do this by acting as a rule-maker and enforcer; an economic powerhouse; a source of significant funding within the EU and beyond, a mobiliser for private financing; a convening power; an innovator and developer of new solutions; as a standard-setter; as a major producer and consumer.
The pressure is on. The climate and ecological crises are accelerating
and there is growing recognition that business as usual is not an
option. The EU can and should play a major role in addressing the
planetary crisis, in enabling and accelerating the transition to a more
sustainable world.
The
European Green Deal is crystal clear in its ambition. However, as this
ambition and its goals are turned into policies and initiatives, the
greatest challenge lies in the ‘how’. How to turn the ambition of the
European Green Deal into real action and real results?
This paper
argues that to achieve the goals of the European Green Deal and
leverage impact beyond EU borders as well, there are five fundamental
strands of action for the EU and its member states:
- Leadership that communicates the urgency for
action. Europe needs leaders - be it politicians, policymakers, media,
heads of military or other opinion influencers - that communicate
clearly the direction of travel and remind the public of the benefits of
action as well as the costs of inaction for the economy, society and
people.
- Aligning member state action with the agreed goals
requires political will, ownership of the needed measures and
recognising that urgent action is in every nation’s interest. This calls
for using every tool in the kit, including EU policies, investments and
collective action, to get on the right track. It requires addressing
existing incoherencies in the policy and investment framework as well as
better enforcement of existing rules.
- Bringing business along: The EU needs to help
create the right framework conditions for European businesses – big and
small - to succeed in the transition and to become a leader in those
solutions that are increasingly demanded in- and outside of the EU.
- Bringing people along: Reaching the agreed goals
requires communicating and showing the benefits that the measures will
bring to people; managing the social impact on the most vulnerable in
particular; and providing people with the right tools to engage in the
transition.
- Global action: The EU should lead by example but
also collaborate with other major players in addressing the climate and
the wider sustainability crises. When the EU speaks and acts as one, it
can be more powerful and impactful globally than the sum of its parts.
Read the full paper here.EPC
© European Policy Centre EPC
