ABSTRACT
Climate change emerged as a policy issue in the 1980s and gradually gained prominence on the EU’s policy agenda. The new Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has declared climate policy to be one of her six top priorities. Shortly after taking office in December 2019, she presented her ‘European Green Deal’ promising that Europe would become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. This commitment reflects a long-term development, but also the prominence that climate change has gained in the last two years – often called the Greta Thunberg effect – and its impact, for example, on the 2019 European Parliament elections. Alongside the European Green Deal, von der Leyen promised a ‘Union of Equality’, with the appointment of the first ever Commissioner for Equality, a statement of commitment to diversity and intersectionality, and a revised Gender Equality Strategy, presented within her first 100 days in office.
