Greeting Message – Ursula von der Leyen

The corona virus affects us all. We have all adapted our lives to protect our own health and that of others. And of course we miss a lot that is important to us.

But we definitely don’t miss air pollution from cars or traffic noise. When we open our windows, we can suddenly breathe in fresh air. We also see how nature is recovering these days.

But that is not permanent. Even if we keep getting better control of the corona virus, we won’t get a handle on climate change so easily. Global warming is progressing. And if we continue to burn fossil fuels, development will accelerate. Now that everyone is returning to their jobs step by step and we’re investing billions to get our economy going again, we shouldn’t fall back into old, polluting habits.

When we invest in renewable energies, drive cleaner cars, renovate our homes and make them more energy efficient, we are doing the environment and, ultimately, ourselves.

We make our society and our environment healthier when we buy sustainable food or reuse products instead of throwing them away or making low-carbon steel.

This is at the heart of our European Green Deal and the European development plan that the European Commission proposed on May 27, 2020.

We want to get out of the crisis stronger and healthier than we went in.

And we can!