Press Release: Today President of the European Commission, Von der Leyen, presented to the European Parliament the Communication on the European Green Deal. Dr Monica Verbeek, Executive Director of Seas At Risk said: “Compared to Mr Juncker’s 10 priorities for the Commission in 2014-2019, the European Green Deal looks like the Von der Leyen Commission took a quantum leap, putting climate and nature high on the agenda. We are concerned however that its ‘green growth’ focus seems to go against the European Environment Agency’s warning that Europe will not succeed in “living well within the limits of the planet” by continuing to promote economic growth.”
Dr Verbeek added: “We are glad to see that the role of seas and ocean is acknowledged, but it is as yet unclear how the European Green Deal will counter the relentless push for blue growth, stop overfishing and make our ocean healthy and resilient again. We look forward to discussing concrete actions with the Commission and other stakeholders during our Ocean Action! conference on 5th February, when we will launch our joint NGO Blue Manifesto”.
