At the 601st Plenary Session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 3–4 December 2025, Policy Lab’s director and co-founder Ajda Pistotnik delivered her 1st floor intervention as a newly appointed member of Group III (Civil Society Organisations) at the EESC.
The plenary debate, titled “Thirty COPs later and a decade after the Paris Agreement: Assessing Global Climate Action and Opportunities for Civil Society,” examined the state of global climate governance in the wake of COP30 and reflected on the gaps between political commitments and material outcomes.
Distinguished Speakers Framing the Debate
The session opened with interventions from three invited experts:
– Elisa Morgera, UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights,
– Ivone Kaizeler, Deputy Head of the Multilateral Affairs Unit, DG CLIMA, European Commission,
– Samira Ben Ali, EESC Youth Delegate to COP.
Their contributions set the stage for a wider discussion involving civil society representatives.
Ajda’s Intervention: Confronting the Structural Roots of the Climate Crisis
Ajda called for honesty about the state of global climate action:
“Let’s be honest about the moment we are in. Thirty COPs later, global emissions are still rising, and inequalities are widening.
This is not because we lack knowledge or ambition — it is because the architecture of climate governance protects the very system driving the crisis: economic growth.”
She underscored the scientific assessments presented at COP30: remaining within planetary boundaries requires reducing material and energy use in wealthy regions—a reality that existing governance frameworks continue to sidestep.
Ajda continued:
“We need Beyond-GDP metrics, sufficiency policies, and resource caps.
COPs have become rituals of delay: processes that create the appearance of progress while avoiding the real drivers of the crisis — dependence on fossil fuels and an economic model based on exponential growth.”
Referencing the remarks of former Italian Minister Enrico Giovannini during the discussion on the Multiannual Financial Framework, she reiterated that climate action built on outdated economic indicators is bound to fail: “The EU cannot build its climate action on an inadequate measurement framework that assumes endless economic expansion. We need different measurements of progress — Beyond GDP.”
Supporting a Global Shift: Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels
Ajda concluded her intervention by supporting a significant initiative announced during COP30:
“I want to highlight and support the First International Conference on the Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels organised by Colombia and the Netherlands in April 2026.
It is not a symbolic gesture — it is a necessary complement to the Paris Agreement.”
Watch her Intervention
You can watch Ajda’s full intervention here.
Policy Lab’s Role in the EESC
This intervention marks an important beginning for Policy Lab’s work within the EESC.
As a civil society representative, Ajda will continue advocating for:
- post-growth and Beyond-GDP approaches,
- environmental and climate justice,
- democratic participation and creating spaces for critical discussions, and
- systemic transformations necessary for a just green transition through building interconnected communities.
Policy Lab remains committed to bringing grounded, critical, and forward-looking perspectives into EU policymaking with its new economic thinking.
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“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. Neither the European Union nor the NHC can be held responsible for them.”
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