Generation Climate Europe (GCE) is a coalition of major European youth organizations aiming to advocate for more

climate action Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...

from European institutions.

History

Generation Climate Europe was launched in September 2019 by youth activists like Nathan Méténier. The founding members of GCE are

FIMCAP The FIMCAP, which is short for Fédération Internationale des Mouvements Catholiques d'Action Paroissiale (French for "International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements"), is an umbrella organization for Catholic youth organizations ...

Europe, ESU, YEE, CliMates and AEGEE. In the meanwhile, a series of other major youth organizations have joined the coalition.

Core demands

Generation Climate Europe was founded to unite the voices and efforts of Europe's major IYNGOs to advocate together toward the European institutions for more climate action. The coalition has formulated the following core demands: * The European shall declare a climate emergency. Climate action needs to be mainstreamed in the policies of the EU. All decisions shall be evaluated on their climate impact. * Young people shall be included in decision-making processes like the process of drafting the

European Green Deal The European Green Deal, approved in 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. The plan is to review each existing law on its climate meri ...

. * The EU shall enhance its

Nationally Determined Contribution The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are commitments that countries make to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of climate change mitigation. These commitments include the necessary policies and measures for achieving the glob ...

(NDC) before 2020 to align with a maximum 1.5 °C increase. The EU should also immediately adopt a long-term climate strategy for

carbon neutrality Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

, at the latest at the next European Council in October 2019. (Dates are now in the past) *

Fossil fuel subsidies Fossil fuel subsidies are energy subsidies on fossil fuels. Under a narrow definition, fossil fuel subsidies totalled around $1.5 trillion in 2022. Under more expansive definition, they totalled around $7 trillion. They may be tax breaks on c ...

and new fossil fuel projects shall be terminated immediately. The EU needs a fast and comprehensive transition to clean renewable energy only. * The costs incurred by the transition to a more sustainable society and economy in the short-term must be distributed in a socially equitable manner. Those who can afford the most need to commit the most. * GCE demands that more investment and focus is put into providing Europe wide sustainable transport networks. The current infrastructure shall be modernised in order to keep up with the demand for sustainable travel and to lower transport costs. Night trains should be reintroduced and a tax on kerosene should be implemented. * More emphasis shall be placed on education as a means to empower the youth and give them the tools to achieving a carbon-neutral and

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and ...

Member organizations

References

External links

Generation Climate Europe Website
{{Portal bar, Environment, Politics, Global warming, Society 2019 in the environment 2020 in the environment Climate change protests European Union Fimcap Organizations established in 2019 Climate change organizations Youth organizations based in Europe