'Mayday, Mayday': EU Overshoot Day signals an SOS for the European Green Deal

If everyone in the world had con‐ sumed as much as EU residents have over the last four months, humanity would have exhausted the planet's natural resources available for the en‐ tire year this Friday.

The EU accounts for only 7% of the world’s population and yet we would need three planets to satisfy our demand if everyone on Earth lived like Europeans.

Our planet simply cannot afford Europe’s consumption habits. This is not only unsustainable, it is irrespon‐ sible.

Despite the urgency, there is no clear plan in sight to reverse this trend. On the contrary, European Council President Charles Michel, along with other European leaders, has chosen to reduce Europe’s green ambitions to two short lines of text in the Council’s strategic priorities for the next five years.

Leaked a few weeks ago, Michel’s first dra “Strategic Agenda” - the de facto blueprint for the EU programme until 2029 - showed little acknowl‐ edgement of the climate crisis.

Nature, pollution and health are completely absent from his plan. In‐ stead, the current text is a major con‐ cession to populist and far-right groups that only have one goal: to kill An abandoned canoe sits on the cracked ground amid a drought at the Sau reservoir, north of Barcelona, January 2024 the European Green Deal.

Sticking your head in the sand won't fix anything

Hiding our heads in the sand and pre‐ tending the current climate and nature crisis could be paused in order to promote competitiveness, surren‐ ders the vision for Europe to a vocal and regressive minority.

This approach doesn't go down well with the majority of Europeans. Indeed, this week, more than 300 civil society organisations representing millions of citizens have joined forces to call on European leaders to tackle the twin crises of biodiversity and cli‐ mate. They simply don’t want to be ir‐ responsible.

The consequences of our ecologi‐ cal overshoot include global defor‐ estation, biodiversity loss, collapse of fish stocks, water scarcity and pollu‐ tion, soil erosion, air pollution, and climate change, leading to more fre‐ quent extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and wildfires.

Inaction on climate, nature and pollution will bring our planet to a breaking point. It will not make our economy more competitive and re‐

silient.

This concerns us all, as Europe is set to suffer temperature increases double that of other continents due to climate change, while risks linked to resource exploitation such as vio‐ lence, poverty and poor governance put global peace and security at risk.

Inaction on climate, nature and pollution will bring our planet to a breaking point. It will not make our economy more competitive and re‐ silient.

Instead, our leaders need to build on the Green Deal, up our environ‐ mental ambition and work harder to make it a success for Europe’s people and businesses.

European Green Deal could face ‘attack’ from right-wing politicians, Green MEPs warn Debate on the fu‐ ture of the Green pact reignites deep divisions

The EU needs a strategy that puts it on a stable path towards climate neutrality in line with Paris Agreement goals. This must be ac‐ companied by a long-term social and green investment plan.

Scaling abundant and affordable renewable energy solutions, such as wind and solar, heat pumps, energy efficiency, and electric and sustain‐ able mobility, is the best way to en‐ sure the EU’s energy security, and to create quality jobs in the sustainable and competitive industry of the future and alleviate energy poverty.

It's not only about Europe, it's about the world

There is no life without nature. In‐ vesting in restoring ecosystems will strengthen our resilience against the worst climate effects: forests, for ex‐ ample, cool down temperatures local‐ ly, hold back water in uplands, and can prevent soil erosion while seques‐ tering carbon.

Nature-based solutions are cheap‐ er to implement and maintain than “grey” solutions (dams, dikes, reser‐ voirs, etc.) for the same level of risk reduction.

Survey rates parties on Green Deal - from 'pro' to 'prehistoric' Did Com‐ mission's Green Deal fulfil expecta‐ tions?

And of course, people need to be at the heart of the next green deal. The EU urgently needs a comprehen‐ sive approach to ensuring a just tran‐ sition that enables all EU citizens to seize the opportunities of the shi to a climate-neutral and nature-positive economy.

This must include tackling the sys‐ temic injustice that is built into the EU's food and farming policies and re‐ stricts the transformation of our agrifood sector towards climate resilience and sustainability.

European leaders must show po‐ litical courage and responsibility com‐ mensurate with the challenges and opportunities ahead.

If we don’t continue driving this transition towards a climate-neutral, nature-positive, and healthy EU which protects people and the planet, if we don’t manage to move back the EU Overshoot Day, we will fail not just every single European, but the world.

Ester Asin is Director of WWF Euro‐ pean Policy Office; William Todts is Executive Director of Transport & En‐ vironment; Ariel Brunner is Regional Director of BirdLife Europe & Central Asia; Chiara Martinelli is Director of CAN Europe; and Patrick ten Brink serves as Secretary General of the Eu‐ ropean Environmental Bureau.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@eu‐ ronews.com to send pitches or sub‐ missions and be part of the conversa‐ tion.