20 June 2019

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, has worked hard to reform the EU’s broken asylum system over the past 20 years. On World Refugee Day, Jean hosted a Q&A with three incoming Green MEPs who are committed to continuing this fight and improving EU asylum policy over the coming five years: Erik Marquardt, Damien Careme and Alice Bah Kuhnke.

Erik is a German photojournalist who has spent time traveling along the refugee route from Afghanistan to Europe. He has also worked with the incredible Sea Watch search and rescue team, helping to save thousands from drowning in the Mediterranean.

Damien has been the Mayor of Grand-Synthe in Northern France since 2001. The area, which is near Dunkirk, received thousands of refugees in 2015/16. Without any funding from the French Government, Damien worked with the NGO Doctors Without Borders to build a relatively safe and clean humanitarian camp for refugees in the area.

Meanwhile, Alice served as the Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy until January this year, working on issues including refugee integration, and combating racism and hate crimes.

The panel discussed some big questions: Why is it so difficult to secure progressive changes to EU asylum policy? Why do people continue to risk their lives to reach the EU? How can we stop the trend towards criminalising humanitarian aid workers in the coming years? And how can we ensure that integration programmes work for Member States, as well as refugees?

Watch the full 15 minute discussion above, or on YouTube here.

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14 June 2019

Today marks the two year anniversary of the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, and yet the dangerous cladding still covers hundreds of tower blocks in the UK.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, highlights the UK’s deep-rooted inequality and lax fire regulations and standards, all of which were contributing factors to this tragedy (also available to watch on YouTube here).

Jean stated:

“2 years ago today we witnessed Britain’s most deadly fire in living memory – at Grenfell. 72 people lost their lives and many more family members, hundreds were left homeless, and a community left traumatised.

In Kensington & Chelsea overcrowding and homelessness, poor quality building sit alongside high spec luxury housing. Grenfell was the inevitable consequence of decades of under-investment in housing, but we must also recognise that minority ethnic communities who lived in the Tower were disproportionately affected. The tragedy of Grenfell Tower is also one of both race and class.

It’s telling that 2 years on that fifteen households from in and around Grenfell are still in temporary accommodation. It is scandalous that even though the UK Parliament has passed legislation for new buildings, only 3 private tower blocks with Grenfell-type cladding have been fixed since the fire, leaving a further 146 buildings in the same state. In real terms that means that 24,000 people are at daily risk by living in unsafe housing. [1]

Fire safety in buildings falls under the responsibility of national authorities, following Grenfell I and other MEPs debated fire safety in the European Parliament,
and in October 2017 the European Commission established a Fire Information Exchange Platform to make sure we share best practice and expertise across EU countries. The UK’s participation is something our government must commit to, whatever happens with Brexit. [2]

A government review of UK’s building regulations following Grenfell found our current system ‘not fit for purpose’ and open to abuse by those trying to save money. It’s not acceptable that people making vast profits in the housing and construction sectors, are putting people’s lives at risk.

Whether it is private or public, we need the same high standards for all. It is representative of our broken system that there is so little oversight and public sector involvement, that the building and property industry are the ones that basically decide on what is used.

The EU can play a key role in preventing tragedies like Grenfell, many EU policies have the potential to increase fire safety. In fact, EU regulations already require that construction work should be carried out in such a way, that in the event of fire the spread of fire and smoke is limited. But these rules need to be enforced properly. These EU regulations are not a burden, they could save lives.

Every one of us in the UK should all be able to fall asleep at night secure in the knowledge that we, and our homes, are safe.”

Notes:

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/13/two-years-grenfell-government-blocks-cladding

[2] https://firesafeeurope.eu/fiep/

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10 June 2019

This year we saw a #GreenWave in politics, with wins for UK Green Party MEPs and councillors, as well as for the wider European Green Party. Whilst the situation we find ourselves in is very far from ideal – there are reasons to be optimistic.

Read Jean’s message from the 2019 Green Party Conference in Scarborough below, or watch it on YouTube here.

“I am here in beautiful Scarborough for the Green Party’s Conference, to celebrate the Greens’ successes in the local and the EU elections!

Spending time here at the coast, it strikes me how much has changed since the 1970s, when the Government used to pump untreated sewage directly into the sea. Thanks to EU standards on waste disposal, clean beaches and plastic pollution, the UK Government has been forced to clean up its act.

Yet, despite these improvements, UK governments continue to allow illegal levels of waste to seep into our seas. In 2012, the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK had broken water quality rules and gave the Government five years to resolve the problem. Having failed to resolve this, the UK Government now faces returning to the European Court and a possible hefty fine.

If Brexit happens, who will hold our Government to account on these types of issues? Can we really trust the likes of Johnson and Gove to keep pace with the EU’s bold environmental targets on things like water, air and plastic pollution? Given the Government’s poor record so far, I think we all know the answer to that question. It’s crystal clear that these types of issues will only be solved by working together with our European neighbours, and using our combined might to make sure Governments across the European Union,are doing their bit the health of people and planet.

This year, you have elected a record number of UK Green Members of the European Parliament,including the first here in the Yorkshire & Humberside – the wonderful Magid Magid. With 74 MEPs, the Greens/EFA group is now the fourth largest political grouping in the European Parliament, and we are larger than any the populist right wing groupings. [1]

The Greens/EFA group will, as always, be striving for more ambitious environmental targets,to protect our environment and prevent an imminent climate catastrophe, we’re confident that we’ll be able to keep up the fight for the next five years.

Because the future is bright, the future is Green, and ‘Brexit is not a done deal.'”

Notes:

[1] An additional German Green Party MEP was added from time of recording and there are now 75 Greens EFA Group MEPs in the European Parliament www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/press/greens-efa-group-positions-elected/

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5 June 2019

Today marks World Environment Day, and the theme for this year is ‘air pollution’.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, highlights the tragic case of Ella Kissi-Debra – a nine-year-old girl from South East London – who sadly lost her life in 2013 following a deadly asthma attack.

It’s time to take action and fight for real, sustainable change to protect children like Ella and future generations.

Watch Jean’s video message above, or on YouTube here.

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17 May 2019

Today is the UK’s Earth Overshoot Day. That means, if everyone lived like we do in the UK, the planet would have used up a year’s worth of its ecological resources in just 128 days [1].

The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament has consistently set the agenda and made real, concrete changes to protect our planet and its rich biodiversity.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, explains why this is so important in the video above (also available on YouTube here).

You can read the full transcript of the video below.

Jean Lambert said:

Have you heard of Earth Overshoot Day? It marks the day when humanity has consumed more from nature than our planet is able to renew during the entire year. From that day until 31st December, humanity is stealing resources from the future to run today’s economy. Last year it fell on 1st August, and it’s likely to fall on a similar date this year.

But today – 17th May 2019 – would mark Earth Overshoot Day if everybody in the world consumed like we do in the UK. This pace of resource consumption is dangerously high, and it’s completely unsustainable.

We’re now learning more and more about the cost of this ecological overspend. Just last week, the UN warned that the biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half of their area, and a million species are at risk of extinction – largely as a result of human actions.

We should be panicking. But it’s clear that most world leaders would prefer to shut their eyes and pretend this earth-shattering crisis isn’t happening on their watch.

Now it’s time to wake up. Here in the EU, we have no option but to transition towards a circular economy – a new social and economic system which prioritises minimising waste and making the most of the Earth’s precious resources.

This includes putting an end to our dependency on fossils (both fossil politicians and fossil fuels!) and moving towards more sustainable options.

It also requires investing funds into new green technologies, rather than continuing to pour money into filthy polluters that pump out toxic fuels, like granting fracking licenses or expanding Heathrow airport.

During my 20 years in the European Parliament, Greens have consistently set the agenda and made real, concrete changes to protect our planet and its rich biodiversity. We’ll keep up this fight because unless we change the way we’re living now, it’s future generations who will pick up the tab.

Notes:

[1] https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

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This week, Jean Lambert MEP published her “5 Brexit Truths” highlighting that leaving the EU is more complex than many would have us believe.

Watch all five short videos below or on Jean’s youtube channel here.

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