Opening Plenary: Delivering on the European Green Deal to improve local resilience and adaptation to climate change
Description
The European Green Deal was initiated by the European Commission with the aim of making the European Union carbon neutral by 2050. Thus, the Green Deal mainly focuses on mitigation policies by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, but it also includes elements that contribute to adaptation efforts. However, in the context of accelerated climate change, including in Europe and Wallonia which experienced major floods, these efforts still remain insufficient. This opening session of the Climate Chance Europe 2024 Wallonia Summit brings together different actors, European and Walloon, in order to outline the main challenges of adaptation to climate change in Europe, but above all to identify the levers of action to strengthen collective capacities adaptation on the continent in areas such as infrastructure, food, biodiversity or governance systems.
“You have to work with nature – not against it. Nature will have the last word anyway.” – Jean-Pascal van Ypersele
“It is regrettable that a number of European Green Deal issues, key to our future, have been postponed. Let’s drop the empty rhetoric and window-dressing strategies. Climate change doesn’t take a break.” – Minister Céline Tellier
“There is no resilience without solidarity.” – Paola Vigano
“It is extremely important that policymakers listen to society, not just ones that have access to policymakers everyday.” – Peter Schmidt
Moderator
- Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Walloon Platform for the IPCC
Welcome Panel
Presentations
- Arthur Keller, Expert in systemic thinking applied to societal risks and collective resilience – Systemic issues beyond climate emergency
- Paola Vigano, Architect and Urbanist – Vesdre Valley Schema
Debate among non-state and European actors
