THINK2030 Conference

Background

2020 was a decisive year for EU climate policy. The new EU Commission published a proposal for a European Climate Law and set out concrete terms for the European Green Deal. Furthermore, during the German EU presidency in the second half of the year two further meetings dealing with climate policy took place: the EU-China Summit and the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Ambitious measures are needed to achieve the ambitious climate targets set by the EU – the implementation of which is up to the individual member states. Since the social and economic realities differ greatly from country to country, coming to an agreement on measures that are both ambitious and feasible poses a political challenge to the member states.

Think tanks play a crucial role in improving the quality of and raising ambitions for climate action. To this effect, THINK2030, a network of European environmental and climate think tanks, was established in the autumn of 2019. This network is aimed at addressing interdisciplinary environmental and climate policy issues, developing policy recommendations and reaching key political target groups.

Project

On 16 and 17 November 2020, the virtual international THINK2030 – Harnessing the European Green Deal to Address the Climate Crisis conference took place. Well over 100 people representing politics, research, civil society, academia and business participated to develop ideas for and approaches to a common climate policy. The conference enabled politicians and scientists to exchange their knowledge and experiences in climate protection.  The organisers and participants attached particular importance to interdisciplinary, intersectoral and interthematic discussions and the exchange of ideas for a common and sustainable future. Twelve policy papers with visions and recommendations for action to successfully implement the European Green Deal were presented and discussed at the conference and were finalised and published thereafter. Following the conference, a Europe-wide survey on the European Green Deal was conducted. The key recommendations laid out in the THINK2030 policy papers and the results of the Green Deal survey have been summarised in the “30×30 Actions for a Sustainable Europe” report. All publications are provided on the THINK2030 website.