IEEP organises the 2024 edition of the biannual Think2030 conference on 27 March. Taking place in Brussels, the Think2030 biannual conference will be held in a critical phase, both to deliver the European Green Deal and to ensure its sustainability principles influence the future direction of the EU beyond 2024.

In 2018 IEEP launched Think2030, an evidence-based, non-partisan platform  gathering decision-makers and analysts from policy, business, and research across Europe to debate the key sustainability issues at stake for EU policy.

The platform meets every two years for a high-level conference  while organising national dialogues at the country level in line with the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. The last conference took place in Paris in June 2022, while the first two national dialogue events were co-organised in association with the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU in Stockholm in April 2023 (Think2030 Dialogue Sweden) and with the Spanish Presidency in Madrid in November 2023 (Think2030 Dialogue Spain). The bi-annual conference’s goal is to identify the most impactful science-policy solutions which are instrumental to the achievement of a more sustainable Europe. The conference will provide policy and decision-makers with relevant and timely policy recommendations.

Taking place in Brussels, the Think2030 biannual conference will be tailored to the Belgian context. From 1 January to 30 June 2024, Belgium will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. An honest broker for Council meetings, the Presidency also has a direct influence on setting the priorities to be discussed. The Council is the most powerful player to increase ambition and accelerate the EU Green Deal implementation, while individual member states are facing big challenges due to their different circumstances.

In 2024 the EU will be in a critical phase, both to deliver the European Green Deal and to ensure its sustainability principles influence the future direction of the EU beyond 2024. The current political struggle challenges the idea that European Green Deal should remain the framework for the EU’s action, influencing Europarties’ political manifestos and the future Commission. The conference sessions will address sustainability issues against the backdrop of the EU’s main political debates on the impacts of the environmental policies approved and planned. It will focus on emerging priorities and work of the Belgian Presidency, but also of the current Trio Presidency, which began with Spain followed by Belgium and Hungary.

The conference will also explore how science can better inform policy to create the enabling environment for these recommendations to be brought to scale, focusing on innovations and best practices.

For more information, agenda and registration, click here.

Key topics for Think2030 conference

The conference will be held on Wednesday, 27 March 2024 and will be structured in a high-level panel, discussing the Belgian Presidency priorities, the role of the EU in securing future sustainability, prosperity, and resilience within Europe and abroad and the vision for a European Green Deal beyond 2024.

4 Science for Policy sessions  will then follow in line with the priorities of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as with the key areas for the implementation of the European Green Deal, notably:

• Adaptation and resilience
• Reaching climate neutrality in agri-food
• Just transitions towards a net-zero economy
• Towards EU resource management law

For more information on the Think2030 platforms and activities, visit the Think2030 website.