With fresh elections looming, senior officials are unrepentant for making climate change a priority of their five-year term.
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00:00 The green transition and its economic implications were prominent topics at the Brussels Economic
00:07 Forum, where politicians, businessmen, scientists and activists met at the event.
00:14 The upcoming European elections were also discussed in connection with the green transition,
00:19 as the topic remains consistently on the political agenda.
00:22 According to the EU Economic Commissioner, the key to growth is investing in green initiatives,
00:28 because the whole world is moving in the same direction.
00:31 "If Europe, which has been the advantage of being the first mover, backtrack, it's a big
00:38 mistake.
00:39 I know that we have to strengthen our support to sectors and regions affected by the green
00:47 transition.
00:50 Not doing so would be a serious mistake, but a backtrack would be much worse than a mistake.
00:57 It would be a catastrophe, not only for the environment, but especially for the European
01:04 economy."
01:05 There was a shared consensus that the green transition must ensure fairness, with a particular
01:11 emphasis on prioritizing the social dimension.
01:16 "Green transition cannot happen without including workers, the citizens in this process.
01:22 It means that jobs are going to be lost, communities are going to suffer.
01:25 So this is why we need to adopt at the European level a just transition directive, that it's
01:29 going to anticipate this change, that it's going to manage this change, and that it's
01:33 going to include the workers in the process of preparing and implementing this change."
01:39 The EU has been criticized for reducing its green transition ambitions due to the movement
01:45 of agricultural producers.
01:47 According to a climate activist, this points to a serious shortcoming of the EU.
01:52 "The farmers movement is a great example of how we were not having a holistic vision of
01:57 what the climate transition is.
02:00 Climate transition is also part of the cap.
02:02 How do we reform the cap in a way that it's completely in line to the Green Deal?
02:06 And I believe this is what we need.
02:08 But far from that, I don't believe that we have to be less ambitious."
02:14 Activists say that the EU has no more time to lose as climate change will continue.
02:19 "We need to implement a more global climate change, especially of critical problems.
02:22 We need to implement a...
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