Sustainable development

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  • The EU Side Event hosted jointly by the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee will allow for a conversation with civil society on how to boost the implementation of the SDGs. The event takes place in the context of the 2023 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

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    As in previous years, the European Economic and Social Committee, as the body representing organised civil society in the EU, will be following the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which will take place in New York from Monday 10 July to Wednesday 19 July 2023.

  • The sustainable economy we need - With Executive Vice-President Timmermans

    Following the success of the previous Youth Climate and Sustainability Round Tables, the EESC will host the fourth EU Youth Round Table on Tuesday 18 July, 10:30-11:30 CEST. Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, will participate in the event and will engage with the youth representatives on the topic: the sustainable economy we need for a successful implementation of the European Green and Social Deal.

  • What next for European action on SDGs?

    On Tuesday, 27 June 2023, the NAT Section is organising a public hearing entitled "What next for European action on SDGs?" to feed into the exploratory opinion requested by the incoming Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU to take stock of the progress achieved on the Agenda 2030 to identify any outstanding challenges and put forward recommendations on how to enhance the impact of European policies on achieving the Agenda 2030, both within and beyond the EU. The views of the civil society organisations working on these issues will be reflected in the EESC opinion NAT/903 on the subject.

  • Civil society and expert contributions for the UN HLPF and beyond

    This workshop aims to discuss priorities to strengthen the EU’s SDG leadership at home and internationally in achieving climate neutrality and sustainable development ahead of major international summits planned for this coming July and September.

  • How the EU can push back against resource depletion

    This public event will assess the extent of the EU's current ecological overshoot and look into proposals from organised civil society to push back against resource depletion and present some best practices and initiatives to reduce the EU's ecological footprint.

  • This online public hearing on carbon removal certification aims to take stock of current certification schemes, looking at different methodologies, and discuss what an EU-wide certification framework needs to provide for in practice to make it transparent, reliable and avoid greenwashing.

  • Extraordinary meeting of the Civil Society Organisations' Group in the framework of the Czech Presidency

    On 11 October 2022, the Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee will hold a conference under the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Reinventing the Moravian-Silesian Region in search of a socially just transition. This is an in-person event that will be streamed online.

  • How to speed up the Shift to Renewable Energy in Europe

    The Sustainable Development Observatory of  the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will host an online conference with the aim to assess the future development of photovoltaic systems and wind power plants and discuss how to build up the European renewable industry to avoid creating new dependencies. 

  • Towards transformational local development policies

    On 28 November 2022 the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and ECOLISE will hold an event in the context of the annual Communities for Future Week, a week-long series of events at EU, national and regional levels that will explore how best to support ongoing work led by communities on climate change and sustainability in Europe.