Open letter to EU leaders from 150 organisations: Our sustainable future must start now

On 11 June 2019, an open letter prepared by Concord Europe, Social Platform and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and signed by 150 civil society organisations in Europe, including SOLIDAR, was sent to 28 Heads of State and Government and published on Euractiv. The letter openly calls on EU leaders to make sustainable development the overarching priority of the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 they will adopt during the 20-21 June European Council meeting.

Signatories of the letter recall that despite progress in some areas, efforts to date have been woefully inadequate to meet the magnitude of the social and environmental challenges. Urgent action is thus needed to address escalating inequalities and tackle the climate crisis, stop the rapid loss of biodiversity, ensure sustainable consumption and production and quality employment for all, and manage a just transition towards an economic system founded on well-being and quality of life.

The signatories of the letter call on Heads of State and Government to show that they have heeded their appeal by making sustainable development the overarching objective of the European Union’s priorities, both inside and outside Europe, for at least the next five years. They further point out that, to bring about real and lasting change, sustainable development must be the golden thread running through all the EU policies. They further demand that the EU should stop looking at the economy merely as a means to create “prosperity” and “competitiveness” and, instead, view it as a tool to promote inclusive, sustainable and just societies that meet the needs of all, within the boundaries of our planet’s precious resources and the limits of its life-giving ecosystems.