#vEGU21 - US1: Integrating geoscience into the European Green Deal
Channel: European Geosciences Union
Date: 2021-08-25

The European Green Deal, first announced in December 2019, sets ambitious targets, including reaching climate neutrality in Europe by 2050; addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss in Europe; restoring degraded ecosystems; and adopting a zero-pollution action plan for air, water and soils. Achieving these bold targets will require scientific expertise from many different geoscience areas.

This Union Symposium provides participants with an introduction to the European Green Deal, highlighting aspects that require geoscience expertise and discussing how scientists can engage with, and effectively support, the Deal’s ambitious targets. The session also discusses the different stages of development and implementation of the Green Deal’s targets, what’s coming next and where science can be integrated. As a European scientific union focusing on many aspects relating to the Green Deal, the EGU is well positioned to highlight these areas through this session and beyond.

The panel includes scientists working in areas related to the Green Deal and policymakers who either initially proposed the Green Deal roadmap or who are currently working on its implementation. The session includes presentations from these speakers as well as a moderated discussion on how geoscientists can best support the Green Deal’s targets and a Q&A with questions provided by the live audience. Despite being a European specific initiative, the Green Deal also outlines missions working with neighbouring countries to the EU and some countries in Africa. In addition, many countries outside of the EU have discussed similar strategies, making this session relevant to a broad and international audience.


Recorded at vEGU21, on the 23rd April 2021.

Moderators: 
- Chloe Hill, EGU Policy Officer
- Ned Staniland, Imperial College London, UK
- Maria-Helena Ramos, President of EGU Hydrological Sciences Division and research scientist at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), France
- Claudio Zaccone, President of EGU Soil System Sciences Division and Associate Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Verona, Italy


Speakers:
- Claire Chenu, Research Director at INRAE and Professor of Soil Science at Agroparistech
- Jaroslav Mysiak, Director of the Risk Assessment and Adaptation Strategies division at the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change and Member of the European Commission’s Mission Board for Adaptation to Climate Change Including Societal Transformation
- Joe Eisen, Executive Director, Rainforest Foundation UK
- Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet, Europe Commission Executive Vice-President


The EGU's 'How Geoscience can support the European Green Deal' publication provides specific examples of how geoscience is related to Green Deal policy areas discussed in this session and is available online here: https://egu.eu/7WFEBL/ 


In the discussion, the panel mention comments in chat and Q&A; the chat was only available to the live participants and comments were not recorded.


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