EU Elections 2024

🗳️ Your vote is your voice. Today, we call for you to speak up for climate justice. 📢

We are living in a time of multiple overlapping crises: from climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, to racial injustice and cost of living.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world. A recent report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) found Europe to have warmed at double the global average rate in 2023, with some parts of eastern Europe severely affected – warmed by up to 2.58°C since the pre-industrial period, compared to a global average of 1.46°C. 

Meanwhile, across Europe, marginalised communities are disproportionately bearing the brunt of climate breakdown. Our newest report, “What’s Race Got To Do With It? – Climate Injustice in Europe Uncovered”, combines critical outcomes from surveying 3,131 EU citizens of racialised backgrounds, alongside hosting expert roundtable discussions in 10 different countries across Western Europe. Key findings revealed that European communities of colour are disproportionately made vulnerable to environmental hazards such as air pollution, pesticide spraying zones, and housing insecurity.

Climate justice can most simply be understood as a multitasking framework, setting out to decarbonise and restore nature, while building a fairer, more just society.

It has never been more vital that Europe is headed by ambitious leaders pioneering progressive policies towards climate justice. Europeans will soon vote for their next EU leaders and decide the fate of Europe. 

The 2024 EU Elections will see 720 MEPs, from across 27 EU member states, elected into parliament. An estimated 373 million EU citizens will be eligible to vote, with the electoral period running between June 6th and 9th. If you are an EU national, eligible to vote as a national in the country where you live, then you are also eligible to vote during the EU electoral period.

Your vote has never been more critical. The outcome of the 2024 EU Elections will have significant trickle-down effects both on national debates in member states and the European level, impacting the EU Commission's ability to make progressive foreign policy choices. The next 5 years will be crucial to securing a future where the EU can achieve its legally binding climate goals and secure a future for its citizens that is safe and regenerative.

This is your opportunity to help shape that future.

We need a European Commission committed to cutting funds to polluting industries, redirecting resources to mobilising initiatives outlined by the EU Green New Deal, and strengthening the integrity of our social-environmental laws by giving social and climate justice a seat at the table, as critical decisions roll out for the next EU 2024-29 Strategic Agenda.

With political forecasts predicting a ‘sharp right turn’ during this electoral period, there is significant risk of populist far-right groups in open opposition to the EU Green New Deal, such as ECR and ID, gaining traction – coming to account for approx. 25% of MEPs across parliament for 2024-29. Despite an unanimous endorsement of the EU Green New Deal expressed across the EU parliament parties (except ECR and ID), a closer look reveals significant disparities when it comes to parties pledging specific, actionable measures.

So, what are we looking for? What commitments do we need to see from our next EU leaders if we are to pave the way for a just, regenerative Europe?

We’ve consulted ClientEarth and the WWF to collate a set of criteria. Party manifestos have been analysed, summarised, and judged against these criteria to produce a UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Score.

  1. Ending fossil fuel dependence: Outlining clear targets for achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, upholding the 1.5C Paris Agreement, and imposing taxes on polluting industries.

  2. Protecting nature-based systems: Reforming agricultural policy, committing funds to nature restoration and increasing circularity of critical raw materials.

  3. Championing a just transition: Leading on anti-oppressive policy, introducing initiatives to tackle energy poverty, and investing into creation of green jobs to support households through the climate transition.

What have our EU electoral candidates got to say about climate justice? What are their commitments, contensions, and controversies? Below you’ll find the rundown of the contenders and how we score them. Now it’s for you to decide where to place your vote.

  • The European People's Party Group (EPP) is the largest party in the European Parliament, dominating 176 seats during the 2019-24 term. At the centre of the party sits Ursula von der Leyen, the EPP Spitzenkandidat and current president of the European Commission.

    The party has economic incentive at the heart of its 2024 manifesto, with pledges to prioritising European technologies, boosting market competitiveness, and securing beneficial trade agreements with global partners. Additionally, they have pledged to supporting farmers, fishers, and small businesses in adapting to climate transition. Their commitment to inclusive, people-centred policy begins to falter, however, when it comes to the livelihood of refugees – who are disproportionately represented by racialised communities – as they advocate for harsher border controls and significant measures to reduce irregular migration. With the EPP growing new alliances with far-right parliamentary groups, concerns regarding their stance on social justice and advocacy only deepen.

    The EPP scores a Grade D on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

  • Second largest, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) boasts a strong political focus on social and economic justice, committed to fighting poverty in all its forms – from energy poverty to mobility poverty to child poverty. They have a strong eye for intersectional approaches to social and climate policies, advocating for increased investment in the Just Transition and Social Climate Funds for creating new quality jobs in a green economy.

    This term, S&D are pushing for significant investments in renewable energy, sustainable public transport, and energy efficiency technologies to pave the way for a ‘climate neutral’ Europe by 2050. They also hold anti-discrimination and gender equality as key priority areas. The party is still recovering from a drastic loss in public trust however, following their central involvement in the Qatargate EU corruption scandal of 2022.

    The S&D Group scores a Grade B on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

  • Third is Renew Europe – the primary centrist force within the European Parliament. Focused on fostering economic growth, innovation, and market freedom, their manifesto calls for policies towards making trade fairer and mobilising private investment. Renew claims to steward women’s rights, migrants’ dignity, and people-centred carbon removal initiatives. However, their fundamentally economic focus recurrently comes at the expense of their social equity and environmental policies. Renew Europe’s policies lack the urgency, boldness, and ambition needed to combat urgent social inequities and climate change.

    Renew Europe scores a Grade D on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

  • Together, the Greens and EFA form the lungs of eco-conscious activity in European politics. They’ve sketched out an ambitious roadmap for a regenerative Europe – one with a 100% renewable energy system by 2040, creating 2 million new jobs. Their manifesto calls for affordable housing, quality healthcare, and quality food for all. Facing criticism for a lack of foresight regarding the financial implications of their socially just initiatives, the party must demonstrate pragmatism this term to restore public confidence.

    The Greens & EFA score a Grade B on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

  • ECR and ID are open oppositionists to the European Green New Deal, championing divisive ideologies that oppose climate legislation and undermine the successes of social welfare programmes. They plan to redirect budget towards military forces, affirming EU-NATO military forces and adopting inhumane migration legislation that “covers all possible points of entry, including air, land, and sea borders”.

    ECR & ID score a Grade F on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

  • The Left are champions for people-centred approaches to politics, calling for universal social protection, fairer wages, affordable housing and strengthened public services. They aim to rapidly mobilise the European Green New Deal, with the aim of steering Europe towards a 65% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, achieving climate neutrality by 2035. Their commitments to social justice and environmental protection are upheld by their open call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Infamously criticised for lacking practical implementation plans, The Left is called to redesign their strategic approach within the existing EU framework.

    The Left scores a Grade B on the UOJ 2024 EU Electoral Scorecard.

Final Thoughts

The urgency to address climate change, strive for social justice, and secure a EU Green New Deal has never been more clear.

The 2024 European elections will be a pivotal moment for European history. Will we choose to lead on the global effort to tackle the climate crisis, to secure a future that is both sustainable and equitable? Or will the Green New Deal become swallowed by the contentions of the populist right?

You decide. Your vote is your voice.

Vote today!