EU Green Week puts the spotlight on nature as our strongest ally in green recovery

After Covid-19, we know that radical changes can happen fast. What we don't know yet is how to make the most of this new beginning, for people and nature. From 19 to 22 October EU Green Week, Europe’s biggest environmental event, will explore the possibilities. How can we rethink our relationship with nature, and change the activities that are driving biodiversity loss and the wider ecological crisis? Join three days of more than 30 virtual discussions on how protecting and restoring nature can stimulate recovery and create jobs, helping us to build a healthier and more resilient society.   

Biodiversity is in crisis around the globe. The latest Commission report on the State of Nature shows Europe’s biodiversity faring little better than the rest of the world. In an effort to tackle the problem, the Commission adopted an EU Biodiversity Strategy in May. EU Green Week will spell out the thinking behind this new approach, highlighting the contribution biodiversity can make to society and the economy, and the role it can play in stimulating recovery in a post-pandemic world.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries said:

Nature is calling on us to halt biodiversity loss and reverse the damage we have been causing. Now is the moment to create a more sustainable economy, one that doesn’t destroy our life support system, but protects, restores and heals it instead. I am convinced that even in these extraordinary circumstances this year’s EU Green Week will be another success story created by all actors involved.  

This year’s conference will also act as a milestone on the path to the COP 15 Biodiversity Summit now planned for Kunming, China, in 2021, where world leaders will adopt a 10-year action plan for biodiversity – a new global deal, the ‘Paris moment’ for nature. As world leaders join forces to reverse nature loss and put nature first in recovery plans, the EU is leading the way with the European Green Deal.

The (mostly virtual) event will consist of an opening event in Lisbon, a high-level conference in Brussels, a virtual exhibition area, and more than 200 partner events all around Europe. Highlights include:

• An opening session reflecting on the notion of a new beginning for nature and people, as we recover and rebuild after COVID-19
• The launch of the State of Nature Report
• The EU LIFE Awards, recognising the most innovative, inspirational and effective LIFE projects in the fields of nature protection, environment and climate action
• The Launch of the Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity
• A Youth Call for Action
• A closing that takes us forward on the road to the Kunming Summit

Register for the conference here. And with partner events now more accessible than ever, don’t forget to check out what’s already happening in 30 countries around Europe.