What Ville spoke about.

9 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

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Mr President, we need to provide energy security to our citizens this winter. Even more importantly, we need to hasten the Green Deal to deliver an energy transformation to solve both the energy—independence needs for Europe and the climate crisis. It is positive that the Council wants to address and hasten the transition to solar and wind power and heat pumps, also in permitting. However, this ca…

19 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, it is now time for self defence of democracy. We as a European Union cannot be side-tracked into inner division. But we must stand and face in solidarity aggression of Russia, both in supporting Ukraine, but also in the effect it has on our economies and our energy security. The Greens welcome the possibilities for joint gas purchases proposed by the Commission, but this is only a…

18 Oct

2022

EN Speech

UN Climate Change Conference 2022 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27) (debate)

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Mr President, every inhabited region of the planet is currently experiencing the impacts of climate change. We are already living in an era of adverse climate effects. Even if last year’s Glasgow COP cut new climate pledges and increased ambition, that was clearly not enough. No matter how we play with the numbers, we are not still on the path to 1.5 degrees. We are actually using our remaining ca…

4 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Key objectives for the CITES CoP19 meeting in Panama (debate)

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Madam President, biodiversity loss is an existential threat, and we must also address this challenge. This is not only important to the upcoming COP 15 on biodiversity, but also in the context of CoP 19 on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Panama. CITES is an agreement with the aim to make sure that trade in wild animals and plants does …

13 Sep

2022

EN Speech

EU response to the increase in energy prices in Europe (debate)

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Madam President, we have been too dependent on fossil fuels, and now our citizens are paying the cost of our past inaction and concentration of supply to unreliable oil, gas and coal suppliers. May I remind you that this high—energy—price crisis is due to the high prices of fossil fuels and also the manipulation of Russia and Putin. But the time has come to act and rein in these abnormally high pr…

13 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Renewable Energy Directive (debate)

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Mr President, renewables are the future of European energy and also in solving the climate crisis they are necessary. In the context of both the climate crisis today what we see is already happening and the Russian war on Ukraine, it is important that they are now raising the ambition for 2030. I think it is the least minimum to increase the target to 45% of land use of energy and this is what the…

12 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Energy efficiency (recast) (debate)

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Mr President, it’s very obvious that the cheapest and cleanest energy is the one you do not consume. All the policymakers, if they are serious about ending energy dependence and about lowering the bills for citizens and businesses in Europe, should first and foremost focus on maximising energy efficiency and savings and helping citizens and businesses to cut their energy consumption. Every additio…

8 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) (A9-0161/2022 - Ville Niinistö) (vote)

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Mr President, I would like to thank Parliament and the plenary for the strong support for the ENVI Committee’s position. And, therefore, I propose that according to Rule 59(4) of the Rules of Procedure, I would like to request that the LULUCF file be referred back to the ENVI Committee for interinstitutional negotiations in accordance with Rules 60 and 74 of the Rules of Procedure.…

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States (Effort Sharing Regulation) - Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) - CO2 emission standards for cars and vans (joint debate – Fit for 55 (part 2))

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Mr President, I am convinced that Parliament can show leadership tomorrow in its votes to make sure that we will have a Fit for 55 package that will deliver a better Europe also when it comes to land use. There has been debate today about whether our land use today is sustainable and I think the science-based answer is: not yet. We still have biodiversity loss, we still have lots of things. But I …

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States (Effort Sharing Regulation) - Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) - CO2 emission standards for cars and vans (joint debate – Fit for 55 (part 2))

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Mr President, we need to turn the way we use land into a climate solution and reverse the negative impact of our land use for climate. That is the way towards carbon neutrality and also beyond the carbon negativity. And while we are some time creating incentives and markets to more environmentally sound practices and products. So this is also in the interests of these sectors and jobs as well. For…

19 May

2022

EN Speech

The REPowerEU Plan: European solidarity and energy security in face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the recent cuts of gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria (debate)

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Mr President, the Greens largely welcome the proposal made yesterday by the Commission and are delighted to see that the Commission now is focusing very much on cutting our fossil fuel reliance and shifting our solutions to renewables and energy efficiency – so not just on short-term sourcing and ensuring security of gas supplies. This is very much welcomed by the Greens. Energy efficiency and ren…

5 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Trans-European energy infrastructure (debate)

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Mr President, the fossil economy is a huge part of the security risks of our time, and money from fossil income strengthens the power and wealth of despotic leaders. In Ukraine, we have seen the cruelty and horrors where that leads to. Us Europeans must hear Ukrainian pleas to stop funding Putin’s war. One thing should be crystal, crystal clear in this discussion to everyone: there is no room for …

24 Mar

2022

EN Speech

The Power of the EU – Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy (debate)

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Madam President, Putin is the aggressor in this war in Ukraine. Yet every day we continue to buy his fossil fuels we fund this attack on peaceful Ukraine and support his power. So we have to do our utmost to get rid of this dependency fast. We in the Greens appreciate the Commission acting on diversification of fossil fuel supplies and introducing a gas storage obligation to keep homes warm next w…

9 Mar

2022

EN Speech

General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

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Madam President, I would first like to thank and congratulate my dear ? colleague, Grace O'Sullivan, for great work in finalising this negotiation. Putin’s war in Ukraine has put the phasing out fossil fuels to the top of the agenda for all of us. Even many who didn’t realise the importance of this before have now come to realise that we really need to invest in renewables and energy efficiency in…

16 Feb

2022

FI Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Russia has been on the road for a long time, where the country's leadership is seeking a position of great power through geopolitical power and aggressive foreign policy. The Russian leadership has not been able to reform the country's economy and has not been able to increase the well-being of its citizens. Power politics is also dangerous and unpredictable because it is partly the …

14 Feb

2022

EN Speech

A European strategy for offshore renewable energy (debate)

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Madam President, this report is a fine response by the Parliament to an important strategy of the Commission. We really need to scale up the investments into renewables in order to tackle our climate responsibilities, but also in order to address the current energy crisis we have, since we are too dependent still on fossil fuels. Wind power is already the cheapest investment in new investments in …

24 Nov

2021

EN Speech

State of the Energy Union (debate)

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Mr President, last year, renewable electricity surpassed fossil electricity for the first time in Europe, and it looks like the EU and most Member States have met their 2020 renewable energy targets. So there are positives in this report – but there is also a negative. We are lagging behind on energy efficiency, and quite badly in a number of Member States. Meeting the renewable targets and not th…

10 Nov

2021

EN Speech

European Partnership on Metrology (debate)

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Mr President, metrology is an old science, but it’s also a more and more important science for our future. When we are relying in the future more on data to tackle climate change and to turn our societies into more digital ones. That means that we really need more exact measurements, also in the future, and more standardisation. So we very much welcome this good proposal from the Commission on inc…

20 Oct

2021

EN Speech

UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, the UK (COP26) (debate)

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Mr President, the Glasgow COP meeting is not just one of the climate meetings in an unending row. I’ve been to a few and I know how people can treat them, but this is the checking point of the Paris Agreement where we check whether we are in line with our climate targets. If we fail here, the next checkpoint five years from now will be too late. So I would urge you, Commissioner, and the whole Com…

19 Oct

2021

FI Speech

The Right to a Healthy Environment (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, when we protect nature, we protect life. Man is one species among others. We are part of nature, and understanding it is also necessary for our own future. We cannot live by destroying nature, the conditions of our own lives. The UN Convention on Nature has just unanimously declared that global biodiversity loss is an existential threat to the future of humanity, but al…

19 Oct

2021

EN Speech

Climate, Energy and Environmental State aid guidelines (“CEEAG”) (debate)

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Mr President, this is an historic opportunity to update our competition policy to be in line with the sustainable future for the climate and for the environment. So I urge you, Commissioner, to be bold in the reform as we cannot fail. We have made commitments at the G20 level to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. We signed on to the Paris Agreement that calls for making finance flows consistent with…

6 Oct

2021

EN Speech

European solutions to the rise of energy prices for businesses and consumers: the role of energy efficiency and renewable energy and the need to tackle energy poverty (debate)

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Madam President, over 80% of the price hike of electricity in Europe has been caused by the increase in the price of fossil gas. Some 93% of fossil gas used in the European Union is imported. A lot of it is imported from countries like Russia. We know that there is serious doubt about market manipulation, also here in the price hike, in addition to what has happened globally with an increase in de…

14 Sep

2021

FI Speech

Presentation of the Fit for 55 package after the publication of the IPCC report (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, the climate crisis is happening now and there is no time to waste, we have already wasted too much. Fit for 55 means that the EU is committed to reducing its emissions by 55% by 2030. It may sound great, but in fact this is the decade when Europe and the rest of the world need a systemic shift towards carbon neutrality. The EU must be a climate leader. By taking the nec…

7 Jul

2021

EN Speech

General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030 (debate)

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Mr President, I congratulate the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and my colleague Grace O’Sullivan on the excellent work they have done on this report. They have improved a lot and done a great job with the Commission’s proposal. The Eight Environment Action Plan covers a crucial decade. This is our decade to get it right, to start living within the planetary bou…