On March 12th, the webinar was a launch presentation of the findings of the Citizens' Observatory Coalition's latest report on Green Deal Financing - Beyond profit: how to reshape the European Green Deal for peoples' well-being - which analyses key EU funding mechanisms such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and InvestEU.

Bringing together civil society representatives and the Co-President of the Greens in the European Parliament as the speakers, the discussion focused on the report's findings, in particular the significant shortcomings in the strategic priorities and implementation of the EU's investment strategy.

During the hour-long discussion, several key themes emerged:

  • The importance and complexity of green technologies and the need to integrate them into broader societal frameworks were assessed. Using the Swedish case study of Northvolt, discussions highlighted the need for a holistic approach that goes beyond technological advances, emphasising the importance of addressing societal needs such as housing, energy and transport.
  • While initiatives such as the EU Green Deal and NextGenerationEU were praised for their potential, concerns were raised about the lack of a coherent strategy and the need for increased public investment. Participants discussed the role of wealth taxes and climate legacy taxes in financing environmental solutions and stressed the importance of redistributive measures.
  • Attention was also drawn to the risks associated with financial instruments such as securitisation and the financialisation of nature, warning against repeating the mistakes of the past. Overall, the event underlined the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic factors in achieving sustainable development goals.

The launch event was well attended, with 86 people including the panelists, 79 of them coming from 16 EU member states (41 women, 24 men, 5 preferred not to disclose this information and 9 people did not provide this information). With three female and two male interviewees, we aimed for a gender diverse panel.

The participants actively intervened during the discussion with a series of questions. As reported in the EU survey shared after the event and email exchange with attendees, respondents were satisfied with the discussion and praised the balance of the exchange, the topics covered and the diversity of viewpoints as successful elements of the webinar. Following the event, the report was distributed to all the participants via email.

The event underlined the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic factors in the implementation of projects such as the European Green Deal, which aim to pave the way for a truly equitable transformation that leaves no one behind.

A full recording of the discussion can be accessed here.

This webinar was organized within the Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing project, financed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

EN Co funded by the EU BLACK