What Anna spoke about.

Mr President, I came to this House to be a voice for all the butterflies, the bees, the dragonflies that pollinate on food and fuel our imaginations. I came to this House to speak for the dolphins, the whales and the entire marine ecosystem. The sea not only provides us with food, but also deepens our sense of belonging. I came to this House to advocate for the trees and forest whose roots anchor

Madam President, honourable Prime Minister Mr Orpo, dear colleagues, last October, Mr Orpo sent a letter to our President von der Leyen raising concerns about the pressure on forest and forestry due to EU legislation. You asked to take more time. Already today, three quarters of Finland’s forest habitats are threatened. Already today, Finnish forests became a net emitter of carbon dioxide instead

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a scandal to see so many colleagues calling to lower the protection status of wolves. Have you actually read the Commission’s in-depth analysis? Because it lacks any scientific basis to your claim. The study highlights the vital role of wolves to our local ecosystem. They regulate wild populations, promote tree growth in our forests and reduce the spread

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear Karima! Europe is growing together and we are making the European driving licence fit for the future. Our vision is, of course, zero road deaths in Europe by 2050. In order to increase safety on our roads, we have looked at the best experiences of the Member States and are now making them the rule in some parts of Europe. In Germany, for example, accompa

Madam President, This is Europe – this is Europe. And yes, we have no choice but to stand together, ladies and gentlemen, for our climate stability and biodiversity. We need Romania and its treasuries of primary and primeval forests. I call on you, President Iohannis, to work for the protection of these forests. I've been to Romania several times. Făgăraș Mountains and in many beautiful places, an

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! On the reversal of the burden of proof: More than half of the birds in our fields, meadows and fields are silent. Pesticides are the number one driver of this bird death. Pesticides don't stay in the field. The rain washes them from vines and fat meadows, they land in the streams and are washed over the river systems into our drinking water. Pesticides also m

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Yesterday, Parliament once again made headlines with one detail: A train full of EU workers erroneously drove to Disneyland instead of Strasbourg. Actually, it's quite funny. Unfortunately, the incident also fits in some ways with the Commission's work programme, the last work programme before the 2024 European elections. Wrong because of course

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, EU-Switzerland relationship status: . That's what we heard. Switzerland has not been an issue in the EU plenum for a long time. Finally, today we are talking again about the fact that we as the EU want and must finally work more closely with Switzerland again. With this EU-Switzerland report, we have worked out some of the fundamental concerns of our European Pa

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! Once again, the Conservatives are trying to use fake news to undermine nature conservation. Today: The Wolf chapter. And you too, Mrs von der Leyen – even if you praised the infinite value of biodiversity here this morning – are unfortunately helping to incite fear of the evil wolf. The fact is: It is a success that the almost extinct animal wolf is spreading ag

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! Today we celebrate a victory for nature conservation. We have a European majority in favour of the Nature Restoration Law. Dear Mr Timmermans, let us use this momentum to address planned legislative projects before 2024. An example: I urge you to make a proposal to the promised Forest monitoring law. We need this law. Forests are our biggest allies against clima

Madam President, More goods on the rails, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, we want that forever! This package contains several laws with exactly this potential. For example, a law regulates how to coordinate timetables internationally. It also makes it more flexible for logistics operators to book routes. The directive on combined transport, i.e. rail and trucks mixed, also has enormous potenti

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, When talking about the combustion engine, almost everyone always thinks directly of the car. In fact, another important step towards decarbonising transport has been taken in recent months. With AFIR, the regulation on alternative fuels infrastructure, we are finally advancing the electrification of freight transport. In the future, there will be a charging p

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! You probably know it when a kitchen sponge is so dry that when we try to use it, the water just slips away and nothing goes into that sponge at all. We all know that. It's an everyday phenomenon. What does this have to do with the discussion here? Our landscapes are also drying up, and the problem is that even if it rains a lot – as it does this spring – the

Mr President, dear colleagues, the truth is sometimes really simple and evident: no nature, no food; no nature, no farmers. With our common project to bring back nature in our life in the European Union, with the nature restoration law on which we have to work, with the reduction of use of pesticides, we want to work together with our farmers and foresters. They know, of course, that without natur

Madam President, First of all, I would like to ask you, as the mistress of this House, to perhaps rebuke Mr Lebreton. He has just used the term ‘green ajatollah’. I mean, if we are just looking at what is happening in Iran, I simply do not find such expressions appropriate in this House, and I think you should really say something about it today as the mistress of the House. On our topic now. Bees

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Today we celebrate one of the key successes of the European Green Deal: The drive turn is coming. Emissions in the transport sector have not been decreasing for years, and in some cases they have even increased. But with the end of the combustion engine for passenger cars in 2035, an important step has been taken and the transition to e-mobility is certain. A

It is also logical, Commissioner, what you have listed, and I believe it is also our role that we really show and also provide data on this dependence on petrochemicals, intensive energy and complex supply chains. That's why organic farming has come through the crises so well. That's why I asked again: What concrete instruments do we have for the next CAP, for the next EU agricultural policy, to r

Mr President, Commissioner! The Eurobarometer shows that 93 percent of EU citizens are very concerned about this rising cost of living, and they notice this every day. But what the Eurobarometer also shows us is that 94 percent of people want to live, work, operate and eat in an environment that is sustainable. This undoubtedly includes organic farming. The prices of organic products – which is ve

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! Actually, it borders on a physical miracle that life on our planet became possible at all. The incredible diversity and beauty of the supposed 8.7 million animals, plants, organisms on our planet is not only fascinating, but is also the premise for our lives. One million species are now threatened with extinction. Our way of taking our place, how we operate a

Mr President, dear colleagues, we are facing a serious problem. At the climate COP 27, the global community failed to make concrete steps to stay within the 1.5 degree pathway. Allowing the climate crisis and the biodiversity loss to continue is not an option. Allowing the climate crisis and biodiversity loss to go further and further is not a solution. Insurance to compensate loss and damages wer

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Gas and oil are from yesterday. They promote war, climate crisis, air pollution. Every single one of these points is reason enough for a change away from the combustion engine and towards alternative drives to be boundlessly cleanly mobile. Anyone who buys an electric car should be able to rely on the existing charging infrastructure. E-charging st

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, The next generations will turn to our time. They will speak either of the great transformation or of the great failure. Whether we like it or not, we are in the middle of each of our thoughts and actions. And yes, the oil is scarce. It is the end of the fossil age, and it is the end of petrochemical fertilizers. We didn't want to do it so quickly now, but the cr

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! 150 species of animals and plants worldwide die every day – every day. We are witnessing the largest mass extinction in over 60 million years. And we also know where that comes from. Internationally, the CITES Convention is the only sharp sword we have to curb the unscrupulous trade in endangered species. But, as my colleagues have said: We also protect the e

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! We are losing valuable forests in the EU every day due to illegal overexploitation, even in highly protected Natura 2000 sites. Criminal networks are particularly brutal. Indiscriminately, acres of forest are shaved; We know the pictures. This is an enormous ecological, but also economic damage. And it not only has a fatal impact on soils, biodiversity or climat

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! The Fit for 55 package must remain our roadmap for a climate-neutral Europe. We need courage today. We need courage for the end of the internal combustion engine in 2035. But we also need courage for changes in land use and forestry. With the current adjustment, the LULUCF and the increased sink targets, we are indeed reaching a milestone in principle, but we do