EU Green Week puts the spotlight on nature as our strongest ally in green recovery

Europe’s biggest yearly environmental event EU Green Week will take place this year in a fully virtual format from 19 to 22 October. It will focus on how biodiversity can contribute to society and the economy, and the role it can play in supporting and stimulating recovery in a post-pandemic world, bringing jobs and sustainable growth, in line with the European Green Deal. This year’s Green Week will also act as a milestone on the path to the COP 15 Biodiversity Summit, now scheduled for 2021, where world leaders plan to adopt a 10-year action plan for biodiversity. Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries said: “Nature is calling on us to halt biodiversity loss and reverse the damage we have been causing. Now is the moment to create a more sustainable economy, one that doesn’t destroy our life support system, but protects, restores and heals it instead. I am convinced that even in these extraordinary circumstances this year’s Green Week will be another success story created by all actors involved.” During three days of more than 30 virtual sessions, the EU Green Week will focus at implementation of the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy that the Commission adopted in May, and will offer a chance to rethink our relationship with nature, to change the activities driving biodiversity loss and the wider ecological crisis, and to weigh up the implications for our economy and society. In addition to an opening conference in Lisbon and the high-level conference in Brussels, more than 200 partner events are happening around the continent. More information is available here.