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Fruits and vegetables in a wooden box/ CC0 Shelley Pauls
Fruits and vegetables in a wooden box/ CC0 Shelley Pauls
Opinion |

Farm to fork strategy

Agriculture is both hugely responsible and affected by climate change. The food we eat, how it’s made and where it comes from plays an important role in the system change that we are fighting for, since our global food system accounts for nearly one third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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iStock
Women and child looking out window
Opinion |

The EU Commission’s Renovation Wave must put people first

Ciarán Cuffe
Opinion by Ciarán Cuffe
Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and the renovation rate in Europe is a win-win. It’s a chance to tackle poverty, create jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says Ciarán Cuffe, Greens/EFA MEP and rapporteur on the European Parliament’s report: ‘Maximising the energy efficiency of the EU Building stock’.
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Opinion |

Radical transformation of our agricultural system needed, not GMOs

Biodiversity and ecosystems are under extreme threat, with around one million species facing extinction. To avert the worst consequences of runaway climate change, urgent action needs to be taken now.In order to respond to these unprecedented and closely interlinked crises, our food and agricultural systems need to be rapidly transformed.…
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Slash and burn amazon ©Matt Zimmerman (CC BY 2.0)
slash and burn amazon
Opinion |

The Mercosur Trade Agreement: A lose-lose deal

When you go to the official website of the EU-Mercosur agreement, the first sentence you see is: ‘A union of countries working as one to secure the well-being of their people’. This is outrageous when you realise that this agreement will emphasize deforestation, biodiversity loss, land grabbing, violation of human rights and adding to …
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matthaeus/unsplash
houses
Opinion |

Housing rights before market interests, for a socially just recovery

Kim Van Sparrentak
Opinion by Kim Van Sparrentak
Our housing system is not working for people. Across Europe, from Paris to Warsaw, Dublin to Athens, an increasing number of people in the EU are struggling to afford the rising costs of housing. Greens/EFA MEP Kim van Sparrentak is leading a report in the European Parliament to tackle the housing crisis.
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©lina-yatsen
Mobile Phone
Opinion |

MEPs denounce reports of political espionage

François Alfonsi Diana Riba i Giner
Opinion by François Alfonsi & Diana Riba i Giner
EFA MEP Diana Riba (ERC) has submitted a written question to the European Commission which denounces the revelations of political espionage against leading Catalan politicians, published this week by the Guardian and El Pais newspapers. The initiative has been supported by about fifteen MEPs from...
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People standing under solar panels/science-in-hd
People standing under solar panels/science-in-hd
Opinion |

Green hydrogen & renewables

Damien Carême Henrike Hahn
Opinion by Damien Carême & Henrike Hahn
On Wednesday 8 July 2020, the European Commission presented its so-called “Hydrogen Strategy”. Our MEPs Henrike Hahn and Damien Carême, co-chairs of Greens/EFA's Green Industrial Policy Campaign look at why hydrogen will be a key energy source to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. But not any type of hydrogen: green hydrogen only!
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©dhahi alsaeedi
Power Grids
Opinion |

A new European energy infrastructure policy in line with the climate emergency

Marie Toussaint
Opinion by Marie Toussaint
During this week’s plenary session, Members of the European Parliament will adopt a resolution setting out the Parliament’s views on the upcoming revision of the trans-European energy infrastructure Regulation (TEN-E Regulation). The current law sets out the process and criteria to select cross-border electricity, gas and oil infrastructu…
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Fridays for Future demonstration European Council/Anuna De Wever/Adélaïde Charlier
Fridays for Future demonstration European Council/Anuna De Wever/Adélaïde Charlier
Opinion |

The EU recovery plan

In our previous blog, “Financing the green deal,” we have already briefly discussed the EU Recovery Plan. This plan was proposed by the European Commission to define the procedure of recovery in Europe after the COVID crisis. While it is mainly focused on rebuilding the economy, a lot of voices in and outside of the European institutions …
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@bady qb
Hong Kong Island Skyline
Opinion |

No feel-good summit

Reinhard Bütikofer
Opinion by Reinhard Bütikofer
When Commission President von der Leyen and Council President Michel meet China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang today for an electronic version of the traditional EU-China Summit, there is only one question: feel-good summit, yes or no?