Green Deal BNR БНР | Euranet Plus

In this episode, we look for the communication channels that can convince us that the EU’s Green Deal is fair for everyone.

We comment on personal responsibility and citizens’ mistrust of the good intentions of those in power, and why Tom Sawyer’s principle of explaining the pact works better than threats of future upheaval.

The world’s population has already surpassed 8 billion and the UN predicts it could reach 10 billion by 2050. At the same time, Europe’s population is ageing rapidly and is expected to start declining in the coming years.

Larger-scale production and increased consumption of goods and services increase the amount of greenhouse gases emitted and leave their environmental footprint. Many countries, institutions and businesses are striving to reduce their emissions, and the Europe Union has even set a target of ”climate neutrality” by 2050.

The relationship between population size and climate change is not linear. There are discrepancies in population growth rates and emission levels across countries. There are also disparities in the attitudes of different generations to climate change and their carbon footprint.

As Europe’s population ages, older generations will be increasingly responsible for overall emissions. Scientists estimate that by 2060, 39% of total emissions will be produced by people over 65.

This episode of The Green Deal podcast is about demographics and climate. I am Antoaneta Petrichanska and we are developing the topic with specialists in demography, researchers of sustainable consumption patterns and environmental impacts.

Extreme events are among the most obvious manifestations of a warming climate, with human-induced climate changes already impacting numerous weather and climate disasters in every region of the planet. They are increasing in both frequency and intensity, and are forseen to continue to increase with future climate warming. How do people who live in areas affected by extreme weather events adapt to them? Can we be calm in the future? What are the implications of climate change? What is the role of politics, the common man and new technologies? What is the situation with our Black Sea coast? Аnd are changes expected in the geography of Bulgaria as a result of the extreme phenomena? Our interlocutors are: Simeon Matev, climatologist, Dimitar Berov, marine ecologist and Emil Gachev, geographer. We will also hear the opinion of Raivis Ragainis, who is the mayor of Jekabpils, a city in south-eastern Latvia (production of Latvijas Radio). He shared his plans to reduce the potential risk of flooding as the Daugava river burst its banks and flooded the city this year.

Climate change is driving change in businesses, occupations, jobs, skills, responsibilities.  

”Up until last year there was a boom in demand for finance professionals who can assess risk with themes in ecology, colleagues who can invest our own money. Now there is a huge boom in demand for lawyers because they write the new policies, and auditors so they can audit the information that will be disclosed from next year.  

What we expect in two to three to five years ahead are people with product design, technical specialties in water, sanitation, air, energy - everything that can create the new solution, for which there will already be money and a procedure on how to invest this money in a legal and smart way,” says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina Stefanova - Head of the Master’s Program ”Responsible and Sustainable Management” and ESG Academy at the Faculty of Economics of Sofia University. She is also the President of the Association of Sustainability Professionals. 

According to Dobromira Manasieva - a member of the Board of the Bulgarian Association for People Management, a professional with many years of experience in strategic human resource management, very strong skills are needed in the direction of influence, that this is an important topic and it should be adopted so that companies can realize the impact that these indicators and the focus on them can have on the company’s revenue and success. 

”Re-skilling is one of the paths we take to get to these kinds of specialists.  The other is education,” Dobromira Manasieva notes.  

Katalin Herner, CEO of the KÖVET association in Hungary, is confident that there will be an increasing demand for specialists in the field of environmental sustainability. 

Greta Gruode, Head of Management at Vilniaus Kolegija, Lithuania, notes that more than 30 million jobs are expected to be in the field of environmental sustainability by 2030. The need for specialists in management processes will also grow, she says.

A report on the implementation of the ”polluter pays” principle of the European Court of Auditors specifies that this principle is at the heart of the European Union’s environmental policy. The application of the principle is as follows: polluters must pay the costs associated with pollution, incl. the costs of pollution prevention, control and remediation. The idea being that polluters should be restricted from causing damage to the environment and if this happens - they should be held financially responsible for what they have caused. However, what are the benefits and what are the limitations of this principle and why is the problem of environmental pollution in ours hands  - this is the responsibility of the judges, the polluters, but also the control authorities and politicians.

Why are green movements becoming radicalized recently? Because they have no other choice or because they are victims of misleading suggestions?

According to many inhabitants of the Old Continent, governments are not doing enough to limit the consequences of human activity on nature. This is the reason why various environmental organizations are organizing radical protests across Europe - to draw attention to the consequences of climate change.
The desecration of valuable works of art and historical landmarks, however, turns part of society against eco-activists.