European Call: 3 Solutions for Climate and Jobs
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European Call: 3 solutions for climate and jobs To Mrs. von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, To the Heads of State and of Government of the EU, Our society is facing a brutal shock. The priority is to save lives, of course, as well as jobs, but this crisis should not make us forget the climate emergency. More than ever, it is time to build a new European Pact for Climate and Jobs. The last weeks were totally sinister, but we all had drinking water in our homes, businesses and hospitals… What will happen if climate change worsens and if, in 15 or 20 years' time, the water table in some major cities is empty for several months? The European Green Deal is the best way to make the real changes Europe needs to be able to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, to generate millions of jobs, and to create the most resilient economy possible. For this to happen, the Green Deal needs real funding. We are students, climatologists, economists, unionists, entrepreneurs and elected representatives at local, national and European level, (former) Members of Parliaments and (former) (Prime) Ministers, citizens from very different backgrounds. We are convinced that the ecological transition is not only a matter of survival, but also a moral obligation and an opportunity for Europe to reinvent itself as it recovers from the COVID-19 crisis. The Climate emergency requires that we insulate all buildings, boost public transport and renewable energies, transform our agricultural model, protect biodiversity, protect and clean forests and the ocean, and develop adaptation and even reparation policies. All these projects are facing the same obstacle, however: who will pay? When working on a scenario of a 40% emission reduction target for 2030, the European Commission has estimated that “achieving the current 2030 climate and energy targets will require €260 billion of additional annual investment" (Green Deal Communication, 12/2019). Already in 2016, it was estimated that the investment gap would be as high as €529 billion per year starting in 2021 (public and private), based on a scenario implying -47% of emissions for 2030. Today, with an increased target, the investment need must be increased accordingly. The commitments from the European Commission to finance the Green Deal fall far short of such amounts - the “Sustainable Europe Investment plan” would provide around €100 billion per year and, alarmingly, it is not even certain that this can actually be mobilised. The Green Deal has so far been promised far too few financial resources (between 2 and 10 times too few) to ever see it succeed. It must have the means the deliver on its promises. In order to win the climate battle, we solemnly call on you to include, as one of the main pillars of the recovery plan that you have announced, credible solutions to finance a real Green Deal and to recognise the state of climate emergency. In order to create international momentum, the EU must agree on an increased 2030 climate target, in line with science, equity and the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C objective, well in advance of COP26. For Member States to agree on this, how this transition will be paid for must be identified. To this end, we are proposing three solutions we believe can reach a broad consensus: 1. In order to drastically reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, stop all fossil fuels subsidies and investments. The European Climate Law must lead to prohibit all Member States from continuing to subsidise fossil fuels. It must also guarantee that all banks (private and public) and insurance companies operating in Europe are transparent about their activities and organise the progressive end of fossil investments. In 2010, Barack Obama’s FATCA Law closed the US market to banks that did not provide the US tax authorities with full transparency. Similarly, to fight climate change, we need a FATCA-Climate Law that reserves the EU market for banks and insurance firms that have redirected their investments to be consistent with the climate emergency. 2. The European Central Bank has created €2600 billion since 2015. Only 11% of these colossal amounts of money have gone into the real economy, whilst the vast majority has been used for speculation. In 2020, besides the hundreds of billions it will create to face the COVID-19 crisis, the ECB will create another 240 billion. It is essential this money is invested in climate and jobs. These billions must feed an EU Climate and Biodiversity Bank, which will provide interest-free loans to each Member State (up to 2% of its GDP each year for 30 years, ie, €300 billion). 3. If every family, every small company and every territory is to invest in a deep zero carbon transformation, zero interest loans will not suffice, as the payback is limited or uncertain. For a catalytic effect, loans must be complemented with public subsidies. The average corporate tax rate in Europe has fallen by half over forty years (falling from 45% to 19%). A 5% European profit tax on large companies (adjusted according to their carbon footprint), combined with other own resources, would bring in €100 billion per year to feed a real EU Climate- Biodiversity Budget. This additional €100 billion would allow us to pass the threshold of 50% of the European budget devoted to climate and assist both the public and private transition. These three solutions would provide sufficient money to finance a just transition that would be fair for workers, communities and citizens. They would enable the Green Deal to create more than 5 million jobs in Europe, as well as improving the livelihoods of millions of families and boosting investments in the carbon free economy. In the face of the climate emergency, whatever our political leanings, we must all strive for its success. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said last July that she was inspired by “the passion, conviction and energy of those millions of young people who have made their voices heard in our streets and found the way to our hearts”. She added, “it is the duty of our generation not to disappoint them”. The European Union was born with coal and steel. It can be reborn with a European Pact for climate and jobs. We invite every citizen of Europe to join this Call, like 1 million already did in just 1 week, on the website https://climateandjobs.eu/ [This website will be publicly promoted only after the Call is Published], where the original version of this Call, as well as the sources of the different figures provided in this Call are also available. Signatories: Young climate activists Adélaïde Charlier and Anuna de Wever Van Der Heyden, Youth for Climate Belgium, Ewa Madina, Fridays for Future Poland, Luisa Neubauer and Jakob Blasel, Fridays for Future Germany, Mădălina Scarlat, Fridays for Future Romania, Mathis Fidaire, Youth for Climate France, Elijah McKenzie-Jackson, Youth for Climate England, Leonarda Šmigmator, Fridays for Future Croatia, Adrian Hiss and Leo Doden, Fridays for Future Austria, Vít Springorum, Fridays for Future Czechia, Anna Dovha, Fridays for Future Ukraine, Elina Arpala, Fridays for Future Finland, Jonah Krieger, Fridays for Future Ireland, David Wicker, Fridays for Future Italy, Lina Stratilatpvaite, Fridays for Future Lithuania, Helena Samodurova, Young environmental entrepreneur, Latvia, Alexandros Nicolaou, Core team member, Tesura Cyprus, Markéta Byrtusová, International Relations Coordinator, Czech Scouting - Junak, Lise Lerche, The Green Student Movement, Denmark, Maximilian Bruch, CliMates Austria, Tassos Papachristou, Representative, Fairosene European Citizens’ Initiative, Amanda Krijgsman, Youth4Nature, Joris Overmeer, Vice-Chairman Government & Politics, Jonge Klimaatbeweging, Netherlands, Baptiste Thevelein and Romain Olla, Vice-Presidents, Animafac, France, Franziska Pezzei, Generation Earth, Austria, Margot Duvivier, President, REFEDD (Réseau français des étudiants pour le développement durable), Tove Lönneborg, Chairperson, Fältbiologerna (Nature and Youth Sweden), Sam Butler-Sloss, Organiser, Economists for Future, Chloé Heulin and Lucie Pélissier, Co-Presidents, CliMates, Côme Girschig, Vice-president, Young Ambassadors for Climate, Nathan Metenier, External Relations Officer, Youth and Environment Europe, Zoltán Lehoczki, Vice-President, International Young Naturefriends, Alex Canal, Secretary General, Generation Climate Europe, Alvaro Gonzalez Perez, Vice-president, European Students’ Forum (AEGEE), Lucija Karnelutti, Board member, The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU), Carina Autengruber, President, European Youth Forum, Climate scientists Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Climatologist, former Vice-Chair IPCC, Professor, UCLouvain, Filippo Giorgi, Former Vice Chair IPCC, Nobelist 2007, Head of the Earth System Physics (ESP) section, ICTP, Jean Jouzel, Climatologist, former Vice-Chair of the IPCC Working Group 1, Académie des sciences, Stefan Rahmstorf, Climatologist, Head of Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Hervé le Treut, Climatologist, former Director of Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL), Edouard Davin, Climatologist, ETH Zurich, Hervé Douville, Climatologist, Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques, François Gemenne, Director, the Hugo Observatory, President, Climate Voices, lead author, IPCC, Philippe Ciais, Physicist, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), Heike Hübener, Meteorologist and climate modeller, Member, Scientists for Future, Bernard Legras, Director of