Keynote speech by President von der Leyen at the DLD Nature Conference

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Good morning,

I am the lucky grandmother of four beautiful grandchildren. They were all born in this decade. By mid-century, they might have their own families. And there is a good chance that they will live to see the dawn of a new century. When I look at them, the future is looking at me.  And just like any grandparent, I want the best for them. But we all know, the world they were born in is not in great shape. It is warming up at worrying speed.

If we look at Munich, by 2050 Munich might be a very different city. For example, with summer constantly over 35 degrees. Imagine climbing on ‘Alter Peter’ where you have the most spectacular view on the city and beyond. On a clear day, you will still be able to see the peaks of the Stubai- and Zillertal Alps. But no glaciers. The glaciers will be a memory of a distant past. The world of 2050, just 25 years from now, might be one of floods and water rationing, where one third of all species have gone extinct. My grandchildren may no longer hear crickets on a summer night, but might be faced with new diseases, carried across continents by invasive mosquitoes.

With such prospects, it is only natural that people, especially young people, are utterly upset. And of course they demand change. Because it is not too late to shape a different future for them. It is not going to be easy. But we all know what it takes. We have to follow the pioneers of new technologies and nature-based solutions, we have to invest decisively in human ingenuity, and we need to let go of the old and explore the new.

And I think this is the most challenging part. We all know change can be so scary. It takes an effort to leave our old habits behind. It takes courage to sail into uncharted waters. This is why the work you are doing here at DLD is so important, dear Maria and dear Steffi. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for having convened this conference here. Because what you are doing here at DLD, is that you are showcasing that a different future is not only possible but is happening, and it is exciting. We have listened to your incredible stories. How you are rethinking our relationship with nature. Some of you are creating zero-waste neighbourhoods. You have heard the stories. Some are transforming the way we travel and transport things. Some are using artificial intelligence to listen to animals, and to hear and learn from them about the health of an ecosystem. What you are basically doing is that you are turning the anxiety for the future into anticipation. You are showing that change can be exciting. It is these stories that are filling our future with creativity, curiosity, and confidence. That is priceless.

But we all know it is going to be a windy and bumpy road to this future. The good news is that we are not starting from scratch. In the last five years, the European Union has taken massive steps into this future. And I think we might not always realise it, but it is all around us. If you look at your smartphones, or for example all the lights here on stage, 50% of the electricity that we are consuming these days comes from renewable. Last year, 82% of the newly registered cars in Norway were electric vehicles. Five years ago, this was completely unthinkable. And yet we did it. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin tried to blackmail us with our over dependency on Russian fossil fuels. You remember that. We decided to break free from our dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and I have not forgotten that many predicted that we would have to go back to coal age. But we did not. Because we guided that transformation. We made sure that Europe moves forward, not backwards. And today, we are producing more electricity from wind and sun, than from all fossil fuels combined. The era of Russian fossil fuels dominance in Europe is over for good.

All of this was possible because an entire continent has come together towards a common goal. We did not just change our policies, we changed our mind-set. In the years ahead, we will need to achieve a similar transformation well beyond the energy sector. We need a fundamental rethink of the relationship between our economy and the natural world. All of us have grown up with the idea that nature is invaluable. Waking up to the song of birds, drinking water from a mountain spring, staring at the endless blue of the sea and the ocean. How could you possibly put a price tag on any of this? Well, we do put a price tag on nature, every second, every day, but only by taking resources away from their natural environment. You can get rich by taking fossil fuels out of the ground, but you will certainly not get rich by putting carbon back into the ground. You can make good money by razing a forest to the ground, but not by planting a new one and letting it grow old. Profits increase for our farmers if they use more land and cultivate it as intensively as possible, but not so much if they leave land fallow, let wild plants flower and birds breed. For generations, humanity has only rewarded the plundering of our natural environment. And today we see how fundamentally wrong this is. It is wrong from a moral point of view but also from an economic point of view.

Just look at our competitors – and you mentioned the Draghi report. For example, the United States investing massively in the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act has nothing to do with inflation. It has a lot to do with clean technologies, so a massive investment in clean technologies. Look at China: massive investments in electric vehicles; they know where the future markets are. Look at the Gulf countries: They are basically sitting on oil and gas, but they tell me that they are investing in clean hydrogen. Because today they are dominating the energy market, and they want to dominate the energy market tomorrow, and they know it is going to be clean hydrogen. So this is the positive story: There are markets out there. But right now, we have to acknowledge that we still have not mastered  that the combined effect of climate change and nature degradation is having devastating impacts. Farmers’ yields are falling due to soil degradation and a lack of insects. Fishing nets remain empty because fertilisers from the fields suffocate life in the water. Hydro and nuclear plants are going offline because of droughts. Trade along our waterways is disrupted because of rivers running dry. So there is a clear economic case for preserving and restoring nature – an economic case.

And companies across Europe understand that very well. Let me take you for a moment to the coast of Spain, near the delta of river Ebro, to a quarry where clay is extracted to produce cement. Until recently, it was a degraded environment, hostile to animal life. The soil was too hard and too dry to hold any kind of water. The rain would only wash away the dirt, polluting rivers and fields. But now the company, together with the University of Barcelona and European Union funding, has completely transformed the site. The worked-out slopes have been returned to nature. There is a lake now, surrounded by plants and teeming with life. And the healthier soil is protecting the surrounding areas from droughts and floods. All of this, while guaranteeing the same economic output and creating good jobs. It is a win-win for nature and for business.

There is a growing awareness that intact nature does have an economic value. Yesterday, one of you put it brilliantly by saying we have to ‘get nature on the balance sheet’. And this is beginning to happen. Nature is starting to feature in our companies’ business plans. Let me give you the example of a Dutch insurance company that is offering discounts to customers who install green roofs. Why is that? Because it will make the house and the whole neighbourhood safer. It will drain excessive rainfall and improve the lifespan of the roof. So, it is not only good for birds and bees but also to reduce future costs for the insurance company. This shows that a different approach is possible, towards an economy that encourages people to serve nature, so that nature can continue serving us.

But to make this new kind of economy grow and prosper, we need our policies to play along. In the last five years, the European Union has cast our climate goals into law. This was extremely important, because now 27 Member States have signed up to reach the climate laws by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. Now we have to implement that. And while we implement that, we must also incentivise those who are willing to go the extra mile. So on top of rules, we need rewards. Because protecting nature must also be interesting from an economic point of view. And we can make that work. Let me give you two examples: The first is about farmers and rural communities, who live closest to nature. And the second is about carbon and nature credits.

The debate on the future of agriculture in Europe has often been heated. We all remember the farmers’ protests all over Europe at the beginning of this year. Like we could not reconcile the interests of farmers with the interests of nature. But nature is the farmers’ livelihood. Their entire life depends on healthy soils, clean waters and on vital work of pollinators. Farmers know it better than anyone else. And therefore, we have called for a roundtable, a strategic dialogue, with farmers, the farmers’ association in Europe, Copa and Cogeca, but also the young farmers, the organic farmers, environmental groups, like BirdLife and Greenpeace, the food industry, the whole value chain, consumers’ associations, fertiliser and seed producers, the financial sector and science, so all stakeholders, to a roundtable. We called it the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture in Europe. And it showed that we have so much common ground, much more than anyone thought. We agree on the need to reach our climate goals. What we have discussed is how we get there. It was fascinating to see the different views and ideas on how to be successful in reaching our climate goals. For instance, there was a clear understanding among all of them, that of course farmers are among the first victims of climate change and loss of nature. At the same time, agricultural structures and practices can fuel these crises. Therefore, sustainable agriculture is an extremely important instrument to support an agriculture that is in sync with nature.

We know this can be done with an efficient system of rewards and incentives. Only if farmers can live off their land, will they invest in more sustainable practices. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together, will farmers be able to continue making a living. We need new financial tools, to compensate farmers for the extra costs of sustainability, and compensate them for taking care of the soil, land, water, and air. It is time to reward those who serve our planet.

And this leads me to my second point on nature credits. Take a water company for which the health of a spring is a vital asset, or a fruit company that relies on the essential work of pollinators. They could use nature credits to reward local communities and farmers, who provide ‘ecosystem services’. We can create a market for restoring our planet. It almost sounds too good to be true. But we know that, with the right standards, it can be done, because we did it before. Here in Europe, we already have an incredibly effective market for carbon. It has been working for almost 20 years. The principle is very simple. It says: You want to pollute – you pay. You want to avoid the payment – you innovate. And it worked. In this time, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by almost 50%, while the economy grew. At the same time the price we put on carbon raised EUR 180 billion that are reinvested in climate projects and innovation.

The same could apply to nature credits. We need to channel vital resources towards all those who are providing ecosystem services. Work is already ongoing at the United Nations and in the European Commission, to define a global standard for nature credits. Because these have to be true nature credits, and no greenwashing. This is an essential first step, to scale up this rising market. And we are working intensively with our Member States to develop the first pilot projects to support this process. We want decarbonisation and nature protection to be a source of growth and innovation, a circular, competitive economy, that gives back to nature, more than it takes away from it. That must be the goal.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To conclude, since I was a little girl, 70% of all wildlife has disappeared. In my lifetime, the world has gone off-balance because of human action. But in my grandchildren’s lifetime, this balance can be restored, to allow nature to recover. This is the story of humanity. After every crisis, a recovery is possible. It is not for granted, but it is possible. With the spirit of innovators and problem solvers it can be done. We should always keep in mind that the children of today would never forgive us if we did not rise to the challenge. Let us do it.

Long live Europe and thank you very much.

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