With innovative proposals, 4 Science for Policy sessions focused their discussions in the afternoon on 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, where the sustainability community behind Think2030 focused its expertise, like the agriculture and land use sector.
The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) organised the 2024 edition of the Think2030 conference on 27 March 2024 in Brussels, under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency. This year’s Think2030 conference was held in a critical phase, both to contribute to the debate on delivering the European Green Deal at national level and to ensure its sustainability principles influence the future direction of the EU beyond 2024.
The last conference took place in Paris in June 2022, while the last 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).
Since its establishment in 2018, Think2030 has reached out to and involved many policymakers, EU officials, and other stakeholders from private and public sectors. The Think2030 conference in Brussels in March was no different!
At the beginning of the day, a high-level panel discussed 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.
With innovative proposals (e.g. the introduction of a ‘polluter-pays-principle’ policy options for agricultural GHG emissions or the establishment of a comprehensive resource management law), 4 Science for Policy sessions focused their discussions in the afternoon on 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, where the sustainability community behind Think2030 focused its expertise, like the agriculture and land use sector.
The final Think2030 policy briefs, following the 4 Science for Policy sessions during the conference and the conclusive panel, provide decision-makers with relevant policy recommendations to inform a science-based agenda for European environmental policy beyond 2030 on the following topics:
– Making adaptation and resilience a priority in nature restoration plans
– Reaching climate neutrality in agri-food – identifying the right policy mix
– Just transition: aligning climate and environmental action with social equity and well-being (co-organised with ZOE Institute)
– Towards an EU resource management law: how to tackle excessive use and consumption of materials
– Recommendations for ensuring the resilience of the European Green Deal
The conference was also the occasion to share the results of the 2024 edition of the European Green Deal barometer.
Please have a look at the main takeaways from the conference and let us know what you think! Further information on the event itself can be found on the Think2030 website, including photos from the day and the recording of the different sessions.
