Friday, 2 December, 16:00 - 17:15
Room: Plenary
We live in times of multiple crises: soaring energy prices and increasing inflation can be felt by citizens all over Europe in their daily lives and are furthering economic and social inequalities in our societies. At the same time the Russian war against Ukraine is reaching new heights of cruelty that is first and foremost an existential threat to Ukraine and its citizens but also threatens the stability and peace in the rest of Europe, and has severe impact also on the rest of the world as for instance food insecurity is being used as a weapon. All of this is happening against the backdrop of the global climate emergency with more severe environmental destruction and detrimental effects of climate change every year.
Greens are in more and more governments across Europe, and we are taking on responsibility in these extremely difficult times. We deliver answers for citizens and areready to address the challenges with the pragmatism they need, but also with the visionary approach they demand. In this demanding context, we stand in unity as a European Green family.
This plenary will feature several green ministers from across Europe to showcase that Greens are taking on important political battles on social and environmental issues, rule of law, equality, and more, and to highlight how green majorities can change the daily lives of citizens for the better.
The Ministers taking part in the plenary are:
 | Alma Zadić, Minister of Justice, Austria Dr. Alma Zadić, LL.M. is Federal Minister of Justice of the Republic of Austria. She was a member of the Austrian Parliament and previously worked as a lawyer in an international law firm in Vienna. Furthermore, she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and the International Organization for Migration and was a research scholar at the Harriman Institute (Columbia University). She completed her doctoral studies in law at the University of Vienna and a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) at Columbia University in New York, USA. | |
 | Maria Ohisalo, Minister for Environment, Finland Maria Ohisalo has served as Minister of the Environment since 7 June 2022. Prior to this, she served as Minister of the Interior (ministry for internal security and migration) between 2019-2021. She has been Chair of the Greens in Finland since June 2019 and was elected as a Member of Parliament in April 2019. Ohisalo has a PhD on Sociology and the title of her thesis is “Crumbs at the Bottom of a Welfare State. Charity Food Aid and Subjective Well-Being of the Disadvantaged”. Between 2015-2019 she was the Vice-Chair of the Greens in Finland and has worked as a researcher on issues related to social exclusion. She is a council member in the Helsinki City Council and was a member of the Helsinki City Board from 2017-2019. | |
 | Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Biodiversity and Land Use, Ireland Organic farmer and agricultural science graduate, with a PhD in Biomechanics. Married to Mark, and mother of 4 children. Member of Green Party Ireland since 2016. Minister of State at Department of Agriculture since 2020 with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, specifically forestry, organics, horticulture and on-farm biodiversity. Member of Seanad Eireann (Irish Upper House) since 2019, and previously a member of local government on Offaly County Council. Other political priorities include women’s representation in politics, women’s health, and social inclusion. | |
 | Sarah Schlitz, State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal opportunities and Diversity, Belgium Sarah Schlitz is the State Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities, Gender Equality and Diversity (Junior Minister) in the first gender-equal Belgian federal government (2020-2024). She is also proud to be the first State Secretary with this portfolio in the Belgian political history. Prior to her appointment as the State Secretary, Ms Schlitz served for 2 years as a member of the Belgian Federal Parliament working on women's rights, mobility and climate as a member of the Green Party. From 2012 to 2019 she served as the city council councillor in Liège. Committed to social and environmental justice, she has been involved in grassroot citizen movements at the cross-section of ecology, social justice and feminism. She was - inter alia – the President of the Belgian chapter of Climat Coalition and worked as a project officer of the Inter-Environnement Wallonie, a Belgian environmental NGO. Ms Schlitz holds a Master in Political Science and Urban Spatial Planning. | |
 | Dritan Abazović, Prime Minister of Montenegro Dr Dritan Abazović is the Prime Minister of Montenegro and the President of the Political party - Civic Movement URA. He is a doctor of political sciences and had served as Deputy Prime Minister 2020-2022 and MP in the period between 2012-2020. He is also the author of the book "Cosmopolitan Culture and Global Justice", which was published in 2010. In his career so far, he has published a dozen scientific papers in domestic and international journals, mainly in the field of political philosophy and international relations. In 2022, he was appointed a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Freedom of Faith & Security in Europe (IFFSE) and a member of The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). | |
 | Closing statement by: Annalena Baerbock, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Germany |
The following Green Ministers will also be present at the Congress, speaking in multiple sessions and attending a side Ministerial Gathering:
| Alma Zadić, Minister of Justice, Austria | |
 | Georges Gilkinet, Vice-Prime Minister, and Minister for Mobility and the National Railway Company, Belgium | |
 | Petra de Sutter, Vice-Prime Minister, and Minister for Civil Service, Public Companies, Telecommunications and the Post Service, Belgium | |
| Sarah Schlitz, State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal opportunities and Diversity, Belgium | |
 | Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Finland
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| Maria Ohisalo, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Finland | |
| Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Biodiversity and Land Use, Ireland | |
 | Ossian Smyth, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Ireland | |
 | Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany | |
 | Patrick Harvie, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights, Scotland | |
| Dritan Abazović, Prime Minister, Montenegro | |
 | Ana Novaković Đurović, Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Montenegro | |
