Webinar on proposed EU Climate Law

Kevin Grecksch, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, held a webinar on the proposed EU Climate Law as part of the Model European Union (MEU) Bratislava on 5 September 2020. Speaking to over 40 students from the four Visegrad countries (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary), Kevin introduced issues of uncertainty, climate change as a wicked problem and the shortfalls of the Paris Agreement in order to prepare the participants for their roles during the Model European Union. The Model European Union Bratislava 2020 (Link: https://www.meubratislava.eu/) was an online simulation of the EU legislative process organised for the first time by Slovak students. The aim was to gather young people from the Visegrad countries to discuss salient issues facing our democracies. The first-hand experience of negotiation and diplomacy in this stimulating multicultural environment equipped the participants with the necessary knowledge and skillsets to help tackle the challenges Central Europe faces. The contemporary issues that were discussed at this year‘s MEU were disinformation and European Climate Law.

The European Climate Law is an initiative by the EU Commission and is meant to be the starting point of the European Green Deal, setting the long-term direction for meeting the 2050 climate neutrality objective, creating a system to monitor the progress all over the EU, and taking the necessary measures if the objectives are not met as well as ensuring the irreversibility of the carbon emission reduction commitments made by the European Union. The EU Commission will use the proposed Climate law to justify and encourage all future European Green Deal-related regulations, directives, and amendments to already existing EU legislation.