Introductory remarks from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the Beyond Growth 2023 Conference in Brussels. The Beyond Growth 2023 Conference is a multi-stakeholder event aiming to discuss and co-create policies for sustainable prosperity in Europe, based on a systemic and transformative approach to economic, social and environmental sustainability and its encompassing governance framework. The transcription is the result of an automated process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

debate

economic growth (T)

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

European Green Deal (T)

Beyond Growth 2023 Conference - Opening Plenary - Limits to Growth : Opening statement by Ursula von der LEYEN, President of the EC

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Good morning and thank you very much, dear Roberta, thank you very much, dear Philip. Honourable members, ladies and gentlemen. Indeed, if we look back a little over 50 years ago, the Club of Rome and a group of MIT researchers published the Limits of Growth Report. It mapped the interaction between population growth, the economy and the environment.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And it came 50 years ago to address, the conclusion, stop economic and population growth, or else our planet will not cope. And as you know, this report has sparked a long controversy, for instance, about the role of new technology in the countering the climate change.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But instead of prolonging these debates, I want today to concentrate on one point, and that is the point that the report got right beyond any doubt. And that is the clear message that a growth model centred on fossil fuels is simply obsolete.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, This assessment has been confirmed time and again. The recent IPCC report is just the latest reminder that we need to decarbonise our economies as quickly as possible. And this is exactly why we put forward our European Green Deal. Building a 21st century clean energy, circular economy is one of the most significant economic challenges for our times.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The European Green Deal is not only our plan to fight climate change and become the first climate neutral continent. It is also our new European growth model for a prosperous, responsible and resilient economy. It is our blueprint for a systematic modernisation of Europe's industry, because in the long run, only a sustainable economy can be a strong economy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Only a sustainable economy has the resources to invest in healthier and in a fairer tomorrow. Only a sustainable economy empowers us to reach the social targets we set ourselves at the Gothenburg and Porto Social Summit. Only a sustainable economy generates the means to accelerate research and development for clean technologies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, So, 50 years ago, the Club of Rome could not completely envisage, for example the potential of green hydrogen. It could not envisage that we might drive this kind of electric cars of today, or it might be able not to see the future as we would have, for example, with batteries where we recycle 95% of lithium, nickel and cobalt. It's not the daily procedure today, but we're able to do it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But already 50 years ago, the Limit to Growth report acknowledged that while fossil fuel based growth was unbearable for the planet, humanity could devise, and I quote, "a different growth model that is sustainable far into the future", end of quote. This is the mission that drives us today, and this is the spirit of the European Green Deal.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We do not have to start from scratch. Our compass in this endeavour are the longstanding values, the true values, if you get it right, of the European social market economy. Our social market economy was never exclusively about economic growth. It always was about human development. It never had the sole goal of market efficiency and liberalisation. To the contrary, the social market economy functions in the interests of the worker, and the community.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It opens opportunities also to set very clear limits. It rewards performance, but also guarantees protection for the big risks in life beyond growth. It focuses on public goods such as health care, education and skills, workers rights, personal security, civic engagement and governance, good governance. Our social economy, market economy, if you get it right, encourages everyone to excel, but it also takes care of our fragility as human beings.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The values of the social market economy have driven us since the beginning of this commission's mandate. Within the European Green Deal, we have always strived to reconcile jobs with the protection of the most fragile people of our society. Technological innovation with climate neutrality. And we have stayed true to this approach, even as new crisis disrupted our everyday lives.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, First, when the pandemic hit us. Our recovery plan, Next Generation EU has focussed not only on restarting our economic activities after the lockdowns, but also on transforming our economic model with a push to decarbonising industries, energy and transport, with an emphasis on digital skills and digital infrastructure, with new investments for schools and hospitals, beyond growth.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Next generation EU takes care of the next generations future. And then, last year, when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine and the Kremlin rolled out its energy blackmail against us, it was a tough year, it did shake us to the core. But not only did we guarantee Europe's energy security.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, There were no blackouts, and protected vulnerable households and companies with a solidarity contribution from big energy providers. We also accelerated massively the transition to clean energy. And for the very first time in history, in 2022, we generated more electricity from sun and wind than we ever did from gas and oil.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, While the CO2 emissions globally rose by 1%, in the European Union during this year 2022 we managed to cut emissions by -2.5%, despite the war. So this is the living proof, it is doable. You can cut emissions and have a prosperous life. It is doable.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, André Gide, a French writer and Nobel Prize winner once said, "One does not discover new lands without having the courage to lose sight of the old shores", end of quote. And I have to look back once. In the 1970s, just one year after the Limits of Growth Report was published, the big oil crisis began.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Back then, our predecessors chose to stick to the old shores, not to lose sight of them. They did not change their growth paradigm, but relied on oil. And the following generations have paid the price. We also experience massive crisis. We're choosing a different path. We are choosing to discover new lands. It's not trivial. Today we are leaving the fossil fuel growth model behind us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But the new lands are still blurred, but they are visible, we can reach them. We know that our children's future depends not only on GDP indicators, but on the foundations of the world we built for them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It was Robert Kennedy, back in the 1960s, who famously said, and I quote, that "GDP measures everything, except that which makes life worthwhile, the health of our children and the joy of their play". And I am sure, had he given his speech today, Kennedy would have included the sound of birdsong and the joy of breathing clean air.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Today on a very fundamental level, we understand Kennedy's wisdom. The economic growth is not an end in itself. That growth must not destroy its own foundations. That growth must serve people and future generations. This is exactly what you will discuss today and the next two days. So thank you for inviting me and I wish you a very good conference. Thanks a lot.