The climate transition embodied in the Green Deal is both an ethical imperative and an economic opportunity. We need to adapt the way we produce and consume to protect our health and well-being and secure our planet for the next generations to come. There is no other way, because there is no other planet.

In the past decades, we have demonstrated in Europe that it is possible to break the link between CO2 emissions and economic growth. In the long term, we all stand to benefit from moving into climate neutrality. At the same time and in the short term, this transition will require significant efforts and will entail substantial adjustments from citizens and regions who rely more heavily on fossil fuels.

This is the reason why the European Commission will adopt a Just Transition Mechanism, including a Just Transition Fund. We want to ensure that the energy and climate transition is just and fair. This is also an opportunity to demonstrate that “leaving no one behind” is not just a twitter hashtag, but a real promise of European solidarity and fairness.

Not all countries and regions start from the same point. Currently, hundreds of thousands of jobs and many households still depend on the fossil fuel value chain and carbon intensive industrial processes, whether that regards coal mining or the steel industry for example. 108 of EU’s 276 regions host coal infrastructure and around 237,000 people are employed in coal-related activities, while tens of thousands more work in peat extraction activities and the oil shale industry.

Reaching Europe’s ambitious 2050 objective will require a significant effort and the transition to a climate neutral Union will transform Europe’s regions.

Green Deal Europe is leading by example in the transition towards climate neutrality

If we succeed, we can significantly cut the unacceptable number of 400,000 premature deaths per year due to air pollution in our cities.

While we embark on this quest, we will spare no effort to ensure that no region, no community, no person is left behind. To help people all over Europe, from the coal mines in Asturias and Silesia, to the peat bogs in the Midlands, we want the Just Transition Fund to bring support to those who worry about their jobs and show that transition can bring opportunities for all.

We can do this, for instance, by offering reskilling opportunities for those who will be affected by the transition. By spurring new jobs in the green economy and by investing in electrified public transport to name a few examples.

The Just Transition Mechanism is a new way to bring everyone along and help achieve prosperity, well-being and a greener future for future generations.

It will set up a Just Transition fund with fresh money on top of the EU budget to provide grants for economic diversification and for workers who need to be trained. It will also leverage private funds to help create new economic activities to replace the polluting ones. And, through the EIB, it will provide favourable loans to local authorities to finance green projects. Taken together these tools will make and stimulate investments of at least €100 billion.

The premise of our European Union is that my well-being depends on my partners doing well. Our solidarity is an enlightened self-interest. And in these times of turmoil it is clear that no one state can weather the great challenges alone successfully.

With the Green Deal Europe is leading by example in the transition towards climate neutrality and a new green growth strategy. We have the skills, the brains and the technology.

As of today, we also have a mechanism to bring everyone along in this just transition. We share a common continent, and together we can forge a bright green future.

Let’s roll up our sleeves and start working.

Frans Timmermans  is European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.