EU, ASEAN launch Green Team Europe Initiative

18 / 11 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The EU launched on Thursday a Green Team Europe Initiative in partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen launched the initiative during the 3rd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development.

The initiative, backed by an initial €30 million grant from the EU budget, will strengthen the EU’s partnership with the region in areas including climate action, environmental and biodiversity protection, clean energy transition, disaster resilience, prevention of illegal logging, wildlife trafficking and air pollution.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said: “As strategic partners, the EU and ASEAN share a joint commitment to fostering a fairer, greener, and more sustainable future. Building back better is about supporting our economies and creating decent employment opportunities while also addressing climate change, tackling pollution, and protecting biodiversity. It requires rethinking our approach to development in the context of a rapidly warming and increasingly interconnected planet. Our Green Team Europe Initiative is a ground-breaking step going forward and I am very pleased to take this step with our partners in South-East Asia.”

As part of the EU’s overall Green Deal diplomacy, this initiative provides the framework for coordinated green action between participating Team Europe partners (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Romania, as well as the European Investment Bank) and ASEAN and its Member States, seeking synergies between their respective political frameworks: in particular the European Green Deal and the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. The Initiative will be implemented both at national and regional levels in the ASEAN region.

The EU will allocate a grant of €30 million to cover programs and projects to support the implementation of the Team Europe Initiative. This is only a part of the funding that Team Europe partners will mobilize in the context of this Initiative.