This opinion will look into the possibilities to engage with young people in a formal way at institutional level and provide the building blocks for a new structured approach to youth engagement at EU level.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Towards structured youth engagement on climate and sustainability in the EU decision-making process (own-initiative opinion)
The EESC believes that there are well-founded reasons to establish uniform rules within the EU to combat global warming and based on these to embark on international discussions with other trading blocs. Furthermore, the Committee deems that, in the future, it could be useful and necessary to also devise new taxation measures that can supplement the current emissions trading system and national carbon taxes in order to achieve an effective and symmetrical policy framework to tackle the increasing amount of CO2 emissions.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Taxation mechanisms for reducing CO2 emissions
The opinion will provide guidance on how to build on existing structures like citizens' dialogues and assemblies, social dialogue committees in order to structure and mainstream the dialogue with civil society. It will also make recommendations about how to encourage information sharing and public understanding of climate action; how to create real and virtual spaces for exchange on climate and how to build capacity to facilitate grassroots initiatives, among others.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: European Climate Pact (Exploratory opinion)
This EESC opinion will respond to the European Commission's proposal for a regulation on establishing a European Climate Law and it will look into the role of citizens in driving the transformation towards climate neutrality.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: European Climate Law
The transition to a low-carbon economy is the EU's goal and obligation and the EU committed itself to implement this transition in a socially just and cost-effective manner. It is thus important to examine all the feasible ways of financing climate neutrality, and possibly find new and innovative financing models in the near future.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Financing the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy and the Challenges in Financing Climate Change Adaptation (Exploratory opinion at the request of the Croatian presidency)
The EESC welcomes the initiative of the European Commission (EC) to launch the assessment of the draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) submitted by the Member States, thereby following up on the new governance model launched by the Council and the Parliament in December 2018 and aimed at ensuring the transition to clean energy and climate protection through a multilevel interactive dialogue which fully involves civil society and public and private entities at local and regional level. The EU is the first major global economy to adopt, through specific National Energy and Climate Plans, a legally binding framework to deliver on its 2015 commitments under the COP21 Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Integrated national energy and climate plans
Finance needs to be mobilised to serve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, create jobs and enable Europe to have a leadership in climate technologies. Moreover, money flows need to be re-directed from polluting technologies towards innovative solutions that will help Europe close the emissions gap. Admittedly, these investments will all be profitable in the long run, but how to "prime the pump"? The EESC's own-initiative opinion on the European Finance-Climate Pact will suggest solutions that can make it happen.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: European Finance-Climate Pact (own-initiative opinion)
The recommendations of this opinion would be principally addressed to the political decision-makers at different levels in order to practically align the policies to the needs of non-state climate actors.
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Boosting climate actions by non-state actors: An EU framework for encouraging more and better actions (exploratory opinion requested by the Commission)
Download — Stellungnahme des Ausschusses: Building a coalition of civil society and subnational authorities to deliver commitments of the Paris Agreement (own-initiative opinion)
