Dr. Othmar Karas, First Vice President of the EU Parliament debates at the EU Sustainable Investment Summit. The EU Sustainable Investment Summit is the European Commission’s flagship annual event on sustainable investment. The second edition, Building Tomorrow, will bring together international high-level speakers that will discuss key challenges, concrete actions to foster cooperation on sustainable investment, and how to accelerate the green transition towards climate neutrality.
#InvestGreenEU
#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #climatechange #émissions #climate #climatecrisis #weather #debates #UNclimatechange #COP27 #COP26 #Climate #LIFE #Environment #UNGA #Biodiversity #SustainableInvestment #Summit
The EU Sustainable Investment Summit, the European Commission's annual event on sustainable investment, was held in Brussels, bringing together energy sector players to discuss key challenges related to energy, climate change and transition. Building Tomorrow, building tomorrow, was the theme of the event, inaugurated in 2021 following the launch of the European Green deal, which saw the participation of international speakers and high-level politicians. Among them, first of all, there is the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who opened the conference by citing the various environmental alarms launched by several IPCC reports (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). "They have shown that the climate is changing faster than our ability to adapt," von der Leyen told the audience in a video message. “The message couldn't be clearer. We must accelerate sustainable investments and increase their scope ", he continued, underlining the importance of continuing the challenge launched by the European Union with the Green deal, with which it aims to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world, by 2050. To do this, underlined the president of the EU Commission, it is necessary "a continuous strengthening of cooperation between international partners, in order to achieve our collective objectives of sustainability".
The European Commissioner for Economy echoed her, Paolo Gentiloni, which reiterated the importance of European climate plans. "The ecological transition must be accelerated, not slowed down," she said, underlining the global risk of going in search of energy at lower prices, especially in this period of crisis. “We run the risk of following solutions that slow down the green transition”, explained Gentiloni. A "clean, safe and convenient future is possible", he assured, recalling that the global challenge will be played on the choice of the most suitable energy system to face current and future climatic challenges, with a consequent economic impact for the States that pursue these objectives. “For the green transition”, she assured her, estimates predict that over 500 billion in investments per year will be needed over the next three years. Precisely for this reason, "it will be necessary to mobilize public and private funding", added Gentiloni, announcing that "the EU Commission will shortly present proposals to increase the scope of Repower Eu and to review EU tax rules, to ensure that national budgets better support these investments ”.
The conference held in the Belgian capital inevitably had to deal with the current geopolitical situation, conditioned by the war in Ukraine, expensive energy and the possible economic recession that could affect many Western countries in the course of 2023. "Energy prices they are at unprecedented and unsustainable levels, fuel high inflation and push our economies to the brink of recession, ”Gentiloni said. Precisely for this reason, many of the experts and politicians present at the event have pushed for an acceleration of the transition to sustainable and clean energies, starting with the United Nations secretary, Antonio Guterres: “We need the EU to be a builder of bridges, also by mobilizing resources towards international coalitions, in support of energy transitions in the main emerging economies”. Guterres called the Western world to action, especially in supporting weaker economies and developing countries. "The next Cop27 it must be a turning point that restores trust between developed and developing countries, ”he said. "Every government, every company, every investment must do its part to build a sustainable, just and prosperous future, towards the goal of limiting global warming to 1,5 degrees Celsius". The horror of the war in Ukraine, continued Guterres, “must not overshadow climate action. The only possible way to energy security, price stability and the livability of the planet is to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, ”he said forcefully in a video message.
