Liberals join in for EU Green Week

This week, Europeans from across the continent are coming together to take action for a sustainable future. The theme of this year’s Green Week is "Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil", which forms a critical part of the European Green Deal.

We believe in liberal solutions for climate and environmental threats that impact our life both in the short and long term.

Earlier this spring on Earth Day, we ran a survey to learn more about how our community thinks that governments should take action to ensure a green economic recovery following the COVID-19 crisis.

Below are the survey results:

Across Europe, our liberal policymakers are taking action every day to deliver on these priorities.

Throughout this EU Green Week, stay tuned on our social media channels to find out more about liberal initiatives for a greener economy and future.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for updates!

To learn more about ALDE Party policy positions on climate and environment, check out our resolutions on A Climate Policy that delivers on the Paris Agreement and Promoting Green Solutions.

At local and regional levels, liberals are also contributing to a healthier planet and people. The Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions (Renew Europe CoR) has listed five examples of liberal leaders working towards this goal, including:

Vincent Chauvet, Mayor of Autun (France), is looking at the feasibility of reaching the 2030 CO2 reduction targets for local and regional authorities, trying to identify measures to step up climate ambitions while also preparing the contribution of European cities and regions to the upcoming United Nations Climate Chance Conference (COP26).
Three of our liberals are National Ambassadors of the Covenant of Mayors: Andres Jaadla (Estonia), Robert Van Asten (Netherlands) and Gunars Ansins (Latvia). The primary goal of these National Ambassadors is to reinforce the initiative of the Covenant of Mayors in every Member State. This covenant is the world’s largest movement for local climate and energy actions. The ambassadors will take part in country-specific activities and reinforce links and cooperation with Members of the European Parliament and National Governments.
To influence the thinking of other European institutions and to ensure that concrete ideas are taken up from the local level, a Green Deal Going Local Working Groupwas launched within the European Committee of the Regions with our members Vincent Chauvet (France) and Mirja Vehkaperä (Finland) as full members and Manuel Alejandro Cardenete (Spain) and Jeannette Baljeu (Netherlands) as our alternates. This group will ensure that cities and regions can bring the European Green Deal off the ground with concrete projects and direct funding to local and regional authorities. Both the European Green Deal and the EU’s recovery strategy should translate into tangible projects and direct funding for local and regional authorities.