Surfrider’s reaction after Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address

Today, we followed the State of the Union address of the President of the European Commission — the speech that traditionally marks the rentrée in Brussels, taking stock of achievements and setting out priorities for the months ahead.

Here are our main takeaways from Surfrider Europe:

❌ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡.

𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: This silence ignores the science. NEVER has the need to protect nature and the ocean been more urgent. The biodiversity, pollution and climate crises are already hitting hard, and the worst is yet to come.

Healthy and protected natural and ocean ecosystems are not obstacles to economic activity — they are fundamental to the resilience of our economy and society.

❌ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 “𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠”.

𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: Simplification must not continue to serve as a pretext for deregulation and weaker environmental protection. The announcement on gold-plating is worrying: Member States should not be discouraged from adopting more ambitious environmental measures.

✅ “𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬.”

𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: Climate change will soon become the dominant pressure on ocean health. The EU must cut emissions at their source, tackle the main drivers of climate change and environmental degradation, which undermine our resilience and make nature-based solutions its first line of defence against the impacts of climate change. Healthy coastal ecosystems are our strongest natural buffers against these impacts. They can only fulfil this role if they are healthy and protected with the pressures exerted on them drastically reduced.

“𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬.”
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞.

Gaelle Haut, European advocacy officer says : “Today’s speech made no mention of nature, and even less of the ocean. Against the backdrop of the deregulation agenda unfolding before our eyes, these omissions came as no surprise — but they are deeply worrying, given the state of our ocean, the levels of pollution it faces, its vital role as a climate regulator, and the contribution healthy coastal ecosystems can make to helping us adapt to climate change.

The assurance that the European Commission will stay the course on its climate commitments — both on mitigation and adaptation — was the only positive signal in today’s speech. The months ahead will show whether this commitment is translated into action. We expect to see the same determination when it comes to Europe’s environmental commitments, rather than the rollback at all levels that we are witnessing as we speak.”

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