In her passionate DLD Nature keynote, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, emphasizes the urgent need to reconnect with nature for the sake of future generations.
“We need a fundamental rethink of the relationship between our economy and the natural world”, she said. “For generations, humanity has only rewarded the plundering of our natural environment. And today we see how fundamentally wrong this is.”
This rethink should be incentivized by government, Ms. von der Leyen demanded. “On top of rules we need rewards. Because protecting nature must also be interesting from an economic point of view.”
“Nature credits”, similar to carbon credits, could be an effective way to create a market for restoring nature, Ms. von der Leyen suggested.
Watch the video to hear more about the EU’s plans for creating policy incentives and why Ursula von der Leyen remains optimistic that, with collective action and innovation, it is possible to restore the planet’s balance and ensure a healthy environment for future generations.
You can also read a transcript of this speech on the website of the European Commission.
