Speeches

Madam President, dear colleagues, I am honestly sick and tired of discussing old white men destroying our future. In times where nature catastrophes, wildfires and droughts destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, still denying the climate crisis is just irresponsible and not forgivable. Young people all around the world rightfully demanded a liveable future, and we do that right now. Today, I stand here and demand from the European Union: we cannot give up this fight. The Paris Agreement is an obligation, and it's our responsibility. Ursula von der Leyen said we owe it to our children, and therefore we need to stick to the Green Deal, we need to phase out fossil fuels and decrease the emissions at least 90 % in 2040. We need to keep our promises. This is something we owe our children today and every day, and we should have these debates in this House thinking about what's at stake right now, looking at the floods and the pictures not just when it happens, but always.

I must say that you, Mr Bernhuber of all people, are now campaigning for renaturation. Of course, it is about working with NGOs and civil society. And that also means that we will not be influenced, but I assume that we – all Members here in the House – can deal with the fact that we meet with different people, talk, form our opinion. We are paid for it here, we are elected for it and above all for representing our rights here. Coming from civil society, I have to tell you: You know how much good work people do in civil society, how valuable it is, and I would think it over again.

Madam President, dear colleagues, what just happened here? We have seen NGOs being attacked, such ones that work for women's health and abortion rights as an example, just a few minutes ago. We are seeing multinational corporations with very strong interests spending hundreds of millions of euros lobbying, and the voices of civil society and NGOs are being questioned in this debate. And this is happening at a time when our democracy, our human rights and the future of our planet are already under attack from all different sides. These brave voices in the civil society, environmental activists, human rights defenders, NGOs fight also for us, for our rights. And it's almost a joke that we are having this debate today where we have so many real problems and struggles. We are talking about 0.006 % of the EU budget a tiny bit, but it makes a difference between democracies and corporate greed. Commissioner, I thought the Commission's guidelines say to step up and use engagement with civil society, not to step down. Please do that.

Mr President, yesterday we celebrated the European prize for human rights. And today, dear colleagues, we must continue to fight for them. The brave voices in Azerbaijan are being silenced – 13 people have been arrested just since the climate conference. Activists, journalists and anyone who dares to speak out; they get intimidated, imprisoned or have to move into exile. We as the EU need to take action. We cannot keep signing energy deals that fund fossil autocrats and keep us locked into oil and gas dependency. We cannot close our eyes to the destruction and suffering it causes every day. If diplomacy is failing, we need to impose sanctions on those responsible, support people fighting for freedom and, finally, cut our dependency from fossil fuel dictators, for Gubad Ibadoghlu, Anar Mammadli, Nargiz Absalamova and Aziz Orujov, and for every single brave person imprisoned because they dared to speak up. We will do it for you right now until you can again.

Mr President! Dear colleagues! It took almost four minutes in this debate – I stopped it – for someone to deny the climate crisis. We are not having this debate today because you are actually talking about people, dear ECR. They are not talking about what this means for people today, nor how we can make the Green Deal better. It's all about mood-mongering and battle slogans. And you know what? It's a shame because the issue is serious. The climate crisis is already here – farmers can tell you this better than many others. The climate crisis is already here – as we can see from the floods and the existences that have been destroyed. Not recognising it is a shame. And when we have these debates, we are talking about what the Green Deal means for our economy, how much progress it can mean and how important it is for our competitiveness. And we also have to realize that inaction is by far the most expensive option. So maybe we don't stick our heads in the sand, but build a future for the next generations. A future where our children can have a good life. This is not a game. This is the question of our future.

Mr President, dear colleagues, I would love to start with talking about climate finance, but I need to start with a message I received a lot in the last few days from Azerbaijan: 'Shame on you and glory to Azerbaijan! COP29 turned out to be a fantastic success story, and you have failed'. This is one of dozens of messages I have received from Azerbaijani numbers since COP. Fossil fuel regimes try to sabotage phasing out fossil fuels, even as they witness the destruction and suffering it causes. Fossil fuel dictators host climate conferences, put gas deals over fighting the climate crisis and call it a success story. Dear President Aliyev, no, COP was not a success story. You silenced activists, journalists and civil society. You imprisoned 300 individuals who dared to stand against you. You tried to use COP29 as a stage to greenwash your regime: you failed. We need climate action above fossil interests. We can't continue making oil and gas deals with these autocratic regimes. And that is what we need to do right now.

Madam President, First of all: You, Mr Sell, are a good example of why we keep failing. They are right-wing populists, nationalists and those who cause lasting damage to international agreements, solidarity and community. We must already state: 2024 – and we are in the midst of crises of injustice between the few who benefit and the many who have to pay for it. And the climate crisis, which you are so fond of scolding, only makes this inequality even greater. The climate crisis is a social issue of our time. We know that the CO2The footprint of the richest 10% is 10 times the footprint of the poorest 50% in the world. Jeff Bezos' 11-minute flight into space has caused as many emissions as humanity's poorest billion in their entire lives. And we also know who the climate crisis hits at the end of the day: It is the people who have contributed the least, who are already suffering from famines, droughts and floods. And yes, they are the ones who are paying the bill for it right now. And we have to stand up to that. Clearly, we must finally hold the perpetrators accountable. And we need solidarity and cooperation, not hatred and hate speech.

Mr President, another year, another climate conference, and still the same discussions. The floods, the droughts and wildfires have become our new reality. Right now, people are losing their lives, their homes and everything they've worked for. So, what do we tell those most affected after yet another climate conference? 'Sorry, we tried, see you next year'? While people are suffering worldwide, the largest oil and gas companies make yearly profits that far exceed the amount needed in the Global South to adapt and fight the climate crisis. It's time to make those who profit from our planet's destruction pay for the damage they have caused for our generations. I stand here for a generation that will have to live with the impact of the climate crisis, and we demand justice. Commissioner Hoekstra, urge you to step up and make sure that this COP29, the polluters will finally be held accountable. We have no time left for these empty words.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! Actually, I wanted to start differently, but we just saw a teaching example from colleague Mazurek, who explained how to make a speech that you then put on social media, where you can spread right-wing extremist ideas, manipulate and radicalize our society. Yes, it is autocrats and right-wing extremists around the world who use social media to influence elections, to further divide societies, and to spread fake news. And he's not alone, but thanks for this perfect example. Donald Trump accuses migrants of eating pets, Moscow propaganda companies repeat lies millions of times – 33.9 million comments, 39 899 content, including thousands of videos, memes and graphics over the last four months: This is now part of our political practice. And I'll tell you something: We young people who use social media, who grow up with it, we will not like the fact that our platforms are instrumentalized as a geopolitical plaything at some point. They should serve so that we can express ourselves, that we can communicate with each other, and not be instrumentalized by political, different, powers here. On this point: We will work to make sure that there are clear rules and let people know what nonsense is being put before them here.

Mr President, Commissioner! Sometimes, when we're having these debates, we might wonder if it's pointless. But it is not pointless to talk about the question of housing and the question of the future. For many people in Europe, this is not the case. This next winter is just around the corner, and many people are already afraid of how to afford the heating costs. Many people in Europe will freeze again this winter. In Europe, 75% of homes are poorly insulated. This is bad for people and bad for the climate. 125 million people live in energy poverty and have to ask themselves the question: Eating or heating? A warm apartment can not be a question of social status, origin or income. Not today and certainly not in the future. Those with the lowest incomes – and we see that – mostly live in poorly isolated dwellings and are then hit hardest by rising energy bills – i.e. double. It's a damn scandal that we still have to talk about it today. We need EU housing support, and these investments must first go towards renovating those buildings where people live in vulnerable situations. This transition must be socially just. No one in Europe should be afraid of heating.

Mr President, colleagues, yesterday we welcomed very brave Afghan women to the European Parliament – women who stand up for their rights and for all women and girls in Afghanistan every day, risking their lives and facing terrible repercussions. The situation for women and girls in Afghanistan has dramatically worsened over the past months and years once more: not allowed to speak or show their face outside their home, not allowed to get education, threatened and harassed. We cannot even imagine what it must be like to be virtually erased from public life. Try to do that. Try to think about getting your rights just disappeared. It is imperative to expand EU restrictive measures against those who are responsible for terrible human rights violations. We need to fight with them and not just speak about that to get their fundamental rights back – rights that never should have been taken away from them in the first place. One way to do this is to increase support to Afghan civil society groups that are working on the ground for women's and girls' rights, human rights defenders and minorities. We have to stand with them now and always. The well-being of Afghan women and girls has to be a priority – not just now, but always. Women's rights cannot be up for discussion, neither inside or outside the EU. Everyone who believes in fundamental rights and women's rights need to stand up and raise their voice every day.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The pictures from Austria and many other EU countries that have accompanied us in recent days are overwhelming. They are communities that are underwater, they are existences that are destroyed, and they are people who have lost their lives or homes. My deepest sympathy is now with those affected and my deepest thanks to the emergency services. What about us? We have to realize in all bitterness that we will see pictures like this more and more often in the future. This is not a coincidence, but the reality of an escalating climate crisis. For decades, scientists have warned, and we have not listened – and now we stand here. Today would be a good time to do better. The time of unrestrained soil concreting, of destroying nature must finally be over. And it is not enough just to react more to disasters and then be affected. We need to take the climate crisis, a security risk for Europe, seriously and push the fossil phase-out today. If we do not act now, the cost to all of us will increase immeasurably – in every sense. It's about lives, and it's about our future.