Böll·Europe

Climate change and disinformation on social media: at the very first sight, these topics  may appear unrelated. However, fostering the ecological transition in Europe, requires substantial effort  in terms of shaping  public discourse.

The U.S. and Europe have entered a new trade era under Biden's administration. A new cooperation agenda is being developed to tackle today's challenges, such as climate change and emerging technology, focusing on consumer protection, competition, digital issues, and energy. Despite the positive shift, trade rules are still used by some to influence domestic policies, often weakening regulations.

In February 2023, the European Commission presented a Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition towards climate neutrality. Among other things, the Plan appears to foster the EU’s willingness to lead globally in the race for development of cleantech.

Thirty years ago, in 1993, a cornerstone of European integration was laid: the European Single Market for goods and services. The European Single Market is a tool that facilitates trade between businesses across Europe. More generally, it was built with the idea of making citizens’ lives much easier and fostering prospects of economic growth and, therefore, well-being.

Pesticides are largely known for their negative effects on people and the environment. These substances are meant to kill pests, but their toxicity also destroys biodiversity and causes poisoning worldwide. Pesticides can be found everywhere: in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. That is why many highly dangerous pesticides are banned in the European Union.

Achieving a climate-friendly Europe by 2050 is the EU's long-term goal.  In the short run, it means stopping using fossil gas almost entirely much sooner. To limit global warming to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels and stay in the Paris Agreement, the demand must end  by 2035. Yet, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine where gas is one resource caught in the war, is Europe phasing it down?

Europride is “the” pan-European international event dedicated to LGBTQI+ pride and since 1992, the event has been hosted by a different European city every year. Serbian capital Belgrade is home to the 2022 edition of Europride, although the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić announced that the event would be postponed or cancelled.

Climate change and the physical boundaries of our planet make it imperative to transform the way our societies work and produce goods. Let’s say it out loud: we need a deep and great turnaround. In the first part of this podcast episode, we dealt with the issue of how to finance such a turnaround.

Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that by mid-2021, 2.5 million people in the EU were refugees. Almost half of the latter are women. But is the journey to ‘safety’ safe for women? Refugees are people who have fled war, violence, or conflict and crossed an international border to find safety in another country.

Talking about the Green transition is all good and well. The big elephant in the room though: who is going to finance a green transformation of our economies and societies!?  Boiling it down to the essence: do we do it through the public or the private hand?

Demography was never a matter of just numbers or statistics. It was not just a question of birth rates or fertility rates. Historically, it was always part of social engineering by the state and by political elites.

Böll·Europe Podcast is the podcast of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office in Brussels, hosted by Gail Rego. From climate and energy transition to democracy and human rights. From the rule of law and digital policy to gender democracy and migration. From economic and social policy, to EU foreign & security policy.