Youth Climate and Sustainability Round Table #4

As part of the EESC's ongoing efforts to engage and empower young people, the EESC, in cooperation with the European Youth Forum and Generation Climate Europe, will host the fourth EU Youth Round Table on Tuesday 18 July, 10:30-11:30 CEST.

European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, will participate in the event and will engage with the youth representatives on the topic of sustainable economy, and its role in addressing environmental and social challenges and advancing the implementation of the EU Green Deal.

The tragic effects of the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate and biodiversity crisis exposed the fragility of our system and the need for an urgent change. The implementation of the Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal will not be successful without a profound change of our economic system. Young people from all over Europe have directly suffered the consequences of the crisis in the past years and have been calling strongly for a systemic change: rethinking our relationship with nature and developing a sustainable economy that puts people and the environment at the heart of a new concept of prosperity.

The European Green Deal and the EU Economic Governance Framework have major implications for the systemic transformation and the green transition. Young people, with their entire working life still ahead of them, are important actors of our future economy and society. Their inclusion in decision-making is crucial to ensure that the European economy reflects their demands of a system that looks beyond growth, and is intergenerationally just and green.

Building on the Beyond Growth 2023 Conference and in preparation of the EU position for the upcoming UNFCCC COP meetings, the fourth EU Youth Round Table will be the opportunity to start a meaningful intergenerational discussion on the future of the EU. 

No registration required: the event will be webstreamed on the EESC's dedicated webpage. Watch it live!