Connie Hedegaard, the Danish European Commissioner for Climate Action, is launching a series of public events to bring European citizens into the debate on climate change and encourage individual action to tackle it.
Over the next two months, Connie Hedegaard will hold a series of dialogues with citizens, businesses and authorities in Portugal and four other countries in Eastern and Southern Europe on how to accelerate action against climate change.
In addition to Portugal, the countries covered by the initiative are Italy in Southern Europe, and Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania in Eastern Europe.
A common feature of all these countries is the growing public concern about climate change and the potential for reducing emissions through individual efforts, which is greater than in other European countries.
Eurobarometer surveys revealed that Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Italy have great potential to increase the level of individual action in combating climate change.
“Yes, with our individual choices, each of us can make a difference in the fight against climate change. I want to listen to citizens and discuss what we can do as individuals to act against climate change. Purchasing local or energy-labelled products, riding a bicycle or avoiding unnecessary energy waste are some examples of easy habits. These are obviously good ideas, what is stopping us from adopting them? I look forward to your contribution to these dialogues,” said Connie Hedegaard.
The dialogues are part of the Commission's pan-European public awareness campaign, 'A world I like, with a climate I like'. The campaign's backdrop is the huge untapped potential for reducing CO2 emissions through behavioral changes.
According to research carried out by the Commission, the EU could reduce emissions by 8-9% by 2020 — as much as half of Poland's annual emissions in 2010 — if all Europeans adopt a healthy diet and adapt their habits in areas such as the transport and heating.
Debates on social media and live
The dialogues will be based on the debates “Visions of a world that you like”, which started the campaign in London. With the participation of Edward Davey, United Kingdom Secretary of State for Transport, and Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth at the London event, as well as Arias Cañete, Spanish Minister for the Environment, Food and Agriculture, and the award-winning actor Sergio Peris Mencheta in Madrid, the conferences brought together hundreds of citizens and representatives of civil society, academia and the business world to define a common positive vision of a low-carbon, clean, smart and competitive society.
The five future national events will have varied themes, but all will combine debates between the public, policy makers and the private sector and recreational elements such as a sustainable clothing fashion show, a bicycle ride, photo exhibitions on low carbon success stories and artistic representations.
Many of the more than 150 campaign partners will support and directly participate in the events.
Before each event, the general public will have the opportunity to contribute to the debate and participate in online chats with the Commissioner on Twitter or on Facebook.
Dates:
· May 17, Warsaw (Poland) – Visions of a world you like: Taking a low carbon turn for the Polish economy
· May 22, Vilnius (Lithuania) – Visions of a world you like: Reduce waste. Reduce emissions. Reduce costs.
· May 28, Sofia (Bulgaria) – Visions of a world you like: Building a low-carbon society in Bulgaria
· June 6, Lisbon (Portugal) – Visions of a world you like: Moving towards a more climate-friendly future
· June 7th, Milan (Italy)- Visions of a world you like: How to make our consumption more sustainable?
All data on programs and locations will soon be available at http://world-you-like.europa.eu/en/events/
Campaign context:
Since its launch in October 2012, the Campanha "A world I like, with a climate I like" attracted more than 22 followers on social media and more than 000 official partners, including public authorities, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and businesses.
It aims to highlight existing, cost-effective solutions to reach the EU's target of 80-95% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as to encourage new solutions.
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