To effectively fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, everyone must however be on board and give it their all.
While the momentum for action is increasing across the board, civil society is clearly leading the charge, showing more enthusiasm than governments and industries combined. Even if we wanted to ignore the extreme weather events that have plagued the planet recently, Greta Thunberg, along with hundreds of thousands of students from across Europe, have been making sure that we don’t. The urgency of the climate crisis is impossible to brush off. This high-level annual summit will bring together an exciting mix of high-level speakers and a few hundred participants, including policymakers, academics, business leaders, civil society representatives and members of the international press from Europe and beyond. Furthermore, aligning the financial sector’s objectives with the needs of the climate will be instrumental in achieving a bold transformation at this time of EU leadership change. Governments will need to become increasingly ambitious when crafting their National Climate and Energy Plans. It is time to close the policy book and start implementing inclusive measures that maintain the competitiveness of European industries. Achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires governments and industries worldwide to also step up their game.
Citizens are increasingly taking to the streets, demanding an inclusive and fair energy transition. In 2019, the climate breakdown is front and centre.