Perhaps we are all beginning to understand that today's reality is a cautionary window into the worst version of our future, where this great pandemic is only a dress rehearsal. As the planet warms, mosquitoes range ever further north, carrying diseases previously known only to the tropics. And in the Arctic, diseases that have lain trapped in the permafrost threaten to emerge as the ice melts. We should have acted yesterday, but the second-best time to act is now.
And we already know what to do. At the end of 2019, the European Commission announced the European Green Deal, a blueprint to make this continent climate neutral by 2050. This marks a shift in the way environmental and sustainability regulation is developed. And crucially for our times, it’s a growth strategy, proving that economic development and mitigating a climate crisis need not be at odds.
CLG Europe is calling on governments to commit to clear and common interim goals for 2030 that will put us on the right trajectory to carbon neutrality by 2050. It is our intent that by coming together to urge the right course of action, we can stave off the worst effects of climate change, paving the way for a brighter, more prosperous, and better future for our planet.
As governments hastily assemble stimulus packages aimed principally at protecting economies from the worst effects of the pandemic, we must continue to hold our political leaders and ourselves accountable to ensure that we keep the most important considerations top of mind. It is counter-productive to shore up economies based on the old way of doing things, only to kick the can down the road and create further, and worse, situations for our children.