| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.19, 27.5.04 |
| Publication Date | 27/05/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Karen Carstens Date: 27/05/04 THE European Commission's annual "Green Week" gets under way next Tuesday (1 June) with a new focus on getting the business community on board. This year's event seeks to go beyond being a policy pow-wow of the like-minded and stimulate debate on how environmental and competitiveness goals can coexist and even complement one another. The basic idea behind Green Week, now in its fourth year, is to encourage people to "think aloud" about how "citizens, businesses, policymakers, NGOs, authorities, teachers, scientists and young people can really change their environmental behaviour". The aim is to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to network and brainstorm in a flexible and fun setting. "It's got quite a buzz to it," the Commission's Environment Director-General Catherine Day said. "It's certainly not a stuffy, boring policy event. "We see it as a showcase for the year and as an important event in the global environmental policy calendar. It's the only time in the year when we bring the whole agenda together." Some 4,000 participants will descend on Brussels for four days set to include 26 seminars and workshops under the heading "Changing our behaviour: informed choices for a greener Europe". In addition, Green Week features an exhibition with stands highlighting best practices, projects and partnerships, plus an Oscar-style awards ceremony introduced last year to honour top green achievers in Europe. A new twist at this year's event will be a "sustainable stock market", in which participants will be able to buy and sell stocks in sustainable and non-sustainable companies. Whoever has the highest returns at the end of the week will receive a prize from the Commission. According to organizers, the stock market simulation aims to demonstrate "that sustainable stocks will give you as much - if not more - return on investment as non-sustainable stocks". Commissioner Margot Wallström will launch events and open the stock market, as well as hand out the awards along with Belgian singer and TV presenter Jan Leyers at the theatre of the Collège Saint Michel in Brussels. But the daytime focus will be on four areas, with a key emphasis placed on "green business". The opening day will seek to involve citizens in the policymaking process and cover matters such as the importance of the environment as a political issue, the charter of environmental rights and citizens participation. The second day will look at how to balance economic competitiveness and the environment. Up for discussion will be eco-business, the sustainable stock market and green advertising. As well as celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Wild Birds' Directive (the EU's oldest environmental law), the penultimate day will explore the "greening" of the Lisbon Agenda to make the EU the world's most competitive economy by 2010. To reinforce the link with the theme of World Environment Day on 5 June, the fourth day will be dedicated to sustaining Europe's diverse marine ecosystems. In keeping with the marine theme, a new category added to this year's awards ceremony is the "Clean Marine Award", designed to recognize and promote ship operators and authorities who have introduced policies enabling a reduction of atmospheric emissions from seagoing vessels. The other categories are for business, the European Mobility Week and children's paintings and photography, which will look at images of birds in their natural habitat. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Environment |
