President von der Leyen at the Leaders Climate Summit hosted by U.S. President Biden and the New European Bauhaus Conference
Yesterday, President von der Leyen participated in the Leaders Climate Summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden, for Earth Day. Welcoming the U.S. back to the fight against climate change, the President said: “We have to strengthen that global unity around ambitious new goals. Because this will be the ‘make or break’ decade for our climate. The Paris Agreement is humanity’s life insurance. At the COP26 in Glasgow, we must show that we all have understood this and that we are ready for more climate action. Science tells us it is not too late yet, but we must hurry up.” Europe aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, and wants to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. President von der Leyen underlined: “To save the climate, we need the world. We need all major economies to take their responsibility and to turn the transition into an opportunity for all. Let us set together a new global benchmark for climate neutrality. Let us work together on a shared commitment and joint action for reducing emissions by 2030. This puts us on a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050. That is what our planet needs.” The speech is available online in English, French and German, and the video here. President von der Leyen also addressed the New European Bauhaus conference yesterday. In her message, she highlighted that the pandemic has not stopped the planet’s most serious challenge: climate change: “With the New European Bauhaus we want to make the European Green Deal tangible and ‘palpable’. We want to add a cultural dimension to the economic and technological transformation.” The President described how the New European Bauhaus can draw inspiration from the historical Bauhaus movement developed in Germany while integrating sustainability, less carbon-intensive materials and interdisciplinarity, and emphasised her ambition that it will not be limited to the EU. Read the full speech here and watch it here.
