The 14th edition of The State of the Union took place in Florence last 23 and 24 May 2024. This year, the conference had a special emphasis on the core themes of democracy and the rule of law, the digital and green transition, the future enlargements of the European Union, all of which will play a crucial role in the run-up to the European elections in June 2024.
A policy session on “Resilient economies and institutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change” was jointly organised by FSR Climate and the EAERE Policy Outreach Committee. The frequency of natural disasters due to climate change is increasing, and institutions across different geographic areas are not equally ready to cope with such events. In fact, the lack of adequate institutional responses is likely to exacerbate the consequences of these events. Making the EU and developing countries more able to cope with the devastating consequences of climate change requires an articulated policy mix around carbon price, and resilient and reactive institutions and processes. In the policy session, feasible manners to enhance resiliency to climate change were explored. The event also addressed how to better prepare agriculture, biodiversity, the health system and our economies in general to cope with climate change and how to protect the most vulnerable populations in developing countries and in Europe. More information here.