Ladies and gentlemen, a year ago at Davos, we talked also intensively about digitalization. This is why we will set up a vaccine export transparency mechanism. It announced that EU-based manufacturing plants, such as the Pfizer production plant in Puurs, Belgium, would now have to request authorisation to be able to export the vaccine. Addressing the virtual Davos Agenda 2021 summit of global leaders, she warned: “We know that preparedness is everything. The first ever European Climate Law will hopefully soon come into force. Companies, who get ahead of the game now, will have a big advantage. She spoke about issues from climate change to big tech and the impact of COVID-19. Not everyone, however, shares these views. Learning from the COVID-19 crisis A key explanation for the gap between the EU and UK vaccine roll-outs is down to the British–Swedish company, AstraZeneca, and the controversial vaccine procurement contacts. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for inviting me again. And yet, the dangers that social media poses to our democracy were also already discussed in Davos. Europe has set out to become the first continent to reach climate neutrality by 2050. 2050 is predicted to be a bleak milestone for the ocean - but it's not too late to avert disaster. David SASSOLI, EP President, and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the EC, open the event marking the International Women’s day during an inter-parliamentary meeting organised by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), in collaboration with the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments. We need to bring together the innovation and the capability of the private sector, and the long-term vision and predictability and the funding of the public sector. So Europe stands ready. She spoke about issues from climate change to big tech and the impact of COVID-19. Copyright And maybe we also took for granted that the doses ordered would actually arrive And climate activist Greta Thunberg was also on top of a guest list full of stars. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. So take the vaccine that will hopefully protect us all from COVID-19. Greta Thunberg's message to world leaders at #DavosAgenda, Building trust: Here’s what you need to know about The Davos Agenda 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. At its most basic, this means that what is illegal offline should be illegal online too. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has expressed her 'deep regret' over the debacle surrounding Article 16 of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. This is why I believe this new form of blended partnerships should prepare and protect us against the next big risk. In the COVAX vaccination alliance, the European Union, together with 186 countries, will be securing millions of doses of vaccines for low-income countries. In a world where polarizing opinions are the loudest, it is a short step from crude conspiracy theories to the death of a police officer. And how fake news, driven by algorithms, spread six times faster than real news. Here it is: More than half of global GDP is dependent on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystems – and it is from food to tourism, you just name it. It is true for all major societal challenges. “The EU is doing its best in a difficult situation. Ursula von der Leyen. Ladies and gentlemen, from the protection of our democracy to the protection of our nature: Europe has everything to win from this new form of international and sectoral cooperation. And they described how the economic laws of social media are eating away at the fabric of our society. This global public-private partnership is working on removing deforestation from four global commodity supply chains – palm oil, beef, soy, and pulp and paper. In a speech to the European Parliament in Brussels , the head of the European Commission outlined a recovery package to help Member States get back on their feet. The European Commission president was eventually seated on a sofa during the meeting at a summit where one of the topics was women's rights. Our European Union green bond standard, for example, and taxonomy will lead the way. A hollow tree had been infested by bats. The pandemic has shown the limitations of some of our old ways of working. This is a problem for the whole world.' A weekly update of what’s on the Global Agenda. And these developments are different sides of the same coin. The EMA assesses all vaccines using the same standards as for all medicines. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was speechless after being left without a chair during a meeting with Turkey's leader. The public's safety has always been at the forefront of our minds—safety is our watchword.”, On Feb 14, the EU made further announcements on its approvals for vaccines adapted to combat new variants of SARS-CoV-2. On 16 th September 2020, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her first State of the Union (SOTEU) speech, setting the tone for the rest of her five-year term.With a wide-ranging set of actions, she proclaimed the Commission’s intent to seize the moment, use the money available, and increase its powers to help “build the world we want to live in.” By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our updated Cookie Notice. To see how policymakers look at the future. But for this to be a success, we must also address the darker sides of the digital world. Furthermore, according to reports in the German newspaper. Copyright The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, Advancing women in science, medicine and global health, Severe mental illness: reassessing COVID-19 vaccine priorities, We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. I hope to be able to continue this discussion with you soon! The EU signed a deal for 300 million doses of the vaccine, but not until August, 2020. Because we need a Paris-style agreement for biodiversity. The EU was late to authorise Covid-19 vaccines and "still not where we want to be", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said. It is the engagement by regional and local politicians that will deliver the more ambitious targets for climate change announced yesterday. The Alliance includes businesses, governments, civil society, indigenous people and communities, and international organizations. Because we cannot accept that decisions, that have a far-reaching impact on our democracy, are taken by computer programmes alone. And I must say, I am delighted that the U.S. has now re-joined the Paris Agreement, in one of President Biden's first acts in office. It is why we will protect at least 30% of land and sea here in Europe. Almost three quarters of the Earth's surface have been altered and we see the changes in our everyday lives: Less wilderness and wildlife, increasing temperatures and extreme weather. Thank you very much, dear Klaus. From South Korea to Japan, from South Africa to China – economic powerhouses around the world now share our ambition. These guidelines were inspired by her discussions with the parliament’s political groups, as well as by the European Council’s strategic agenda for 2019-2024. We all benefit from nature and we all benefit from the protection it gives us. They must honour their obligations. But it's approval of the vaccine in early December prompted criticisms, including claims that the UK was not using all available data before making its decision to authorise the vaccine. EU's von der Leyen says COVID-19 vaccinations in EU to start on Dec. 27, 28, 29 ... European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech during a … New alliances for new solutions. And we have dedicated 37% of NextGenerationEU – that is our EUR 750 billion Recovery Plan –, 37% dedicated to the European Green Deal. last week in relation to widespread criticism of how Europe has so far handled the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. “We were late in granting authorisation. We were too optimistic about mass production. This will have to be like COP21 was for climate. We know how important this is for investors, who are looking for truly sustainable projects. And now, the companies must deliver. When we lose forests, we do not ‘just' lose green space or natural habitat. And that is true. No matter how tempting it may have been for Twitter to switch off President Trump's account, such serious interference with freedom of expression should not be based on company rules alone. Europe is determined to contribute to this global common good. President von der Leyen and Professor Schwab spoke on the second day of Davos Agenda week. These trends have reduced diversity in our diets, which is directly linked to diseases or health risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity and malnutrition.One initiative which is bringing a renewed focus on biological diversity is the Tropical Forest Alliance. We do not know exactly what happened there. The EU “means business”, Ursula von der Leyen has said, as the bloc doubled down on plans for tighter monitoring of vaccine exports to countries outside of the union, such as the UK. And you might have seen some of them in the documentary ‘The Social Dilemma' – I can only recommend it. Black Women Died From Coronavirus At Far Higher Rates Than White Men: Study; After the Capitol Riot, Democrats Are Torn Over Working With the G.O.P. In a State of the Union address on September 16, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen advised EU members to form a more powerful health union that promotes closer cooperation as humans worldwide “are still suffering” from the novel coronavirus. And a year ago, my bilateral talks revolved primarily around the question: Would, for example, the U.S. government impose punitive tariffs on European carmakers? European media quickly slammed the Commission for threatening the Northern Ireland peace process. And we do know just how tragic the repercussions were across Africa and the world. And in the latest World Economic Forum Global Risk Report, the top five global risks are all related to the environment. And images, like we saw a few weeks ago when an angry mob stormed the Capitol, were beyond my imagination. We must learn from this crisis. But I think it is learning fast”, he said. Because we want the values we cherish in the offline world also to be respected online. It is cohesion between regions that is the heart of European solidarity. On Dec 2, former EMA head Guido Rasi, declared the UK Government had not delivered a “robust review of all available data”. Because COVID-19 is a public emergency, the EMA has accelerated the process by using an expert task force and what the organisation describes as “rapid review procedures”. To nurture innovative ecosystems, for example where universities, companies, innovators can access data and cooperate. And we have seen the momentum that this has generated. We cannot wait for the next pandemic to start preparing. To create a truly global common good. Today, a year later, we are worrying about whether democracy itself might have been permanently damaged in the last four years. Together, we could create a digital economy rulebook that is valid worldwide: It goes from data protection and privacy to the security of critical infrastructure. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. To understand why, I want you to accompany me to a remote village in Guinea, just for a minute. Like for so many of us, the storming of the Capitol came as a shock to me. With the world continuing to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, and the full scale of the economic damage is still unknown, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her first State of the… The EU even threatened to stop the flow of vaccine from Ireland to Northern Ireland, although this proposal was swiftly withdrawn after provoking outrage not just in London and Belfast, but also in Dublin. This is also why early in the pandemic, the European Union, together with organizations like the World Economic Forum, or the Gates Foundation and Global Citizen organized pledging initiatives to mobilise funding for the global coronavirus response. It also made sure the contracts had clear delivery dates. I remember sitting in a basement restaurant of my hotel with, among others, the business journalist Rana Foroohar and the former Google developer Tristan Harris. And we will reach out to our partners from around the world – from foundations to global institutions, from CEOs to NGOs, and from our oldest partners across the Atlantic to all those who want to join. In a speech on Wednesday, the former EU Brexit negotiator appeared to make a veiled swipe at Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. And indeed, my speech focused on the European Green Deal and of course Digitalisation. This is a blueprint for cooperation in today's world. The challenges to our democracy, the pandemic, climate change – in his inauguration speech President Joe Biden so aptly spoke of a Cascade of Crises. At that time, the activists warned about the business models of big tech companies and the consequences for our democracy. So that the 2020s can finally be Europe's Digital Decade. They pinned their hopes on Europe. The event is hosted by Evelyn REGNER (S&D, AT). “When Europe really needed to be there … In the last 100 years, more than 90 percent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers’ fields, and all of the world’s 17 main fishing grounds are now being fished at or above their sustainable limits. And this year, the World Economic Forum is once again asking the right questions with your initiative, Klaus, ‘The Great Reset'.