Video Message - International Day of Co-operatives

Watch the video here. 

The 26th UN International Day of Co-operatives is dedicated to climate action, to promote the significant contribution of co-operative enterprises worldwide in the battle against climate change and to raise awareness of the urgent need of all operators and citizens to take action!

On this occasion, Euro Coop President - Mathias Fiedler and Secretary-General - Todor Ivanov come together for an online video greeting to all consumer co-operatives and the wider community.

As per the recommendations of the UN under SDG13 – Climate Action, national governments are called upon to adopt national strategies enabling support for all responsible operators, and we believe co-ops should be included, by means of increased access to finance and capacity building. The UN also strongly advises an increase in awareness-raising & education among civil society. The facts are undisputable - CO2 emissions are all-time high, whilst the economic loss due to climate change in the period 1997-2017 is estimated at 3 trillion USD. The overarching objective is to foster climate resilience, decrease CO2 while securing food production.

Co-ops have an excellent track record, due to the fact that we base all our operations on the triple bottom line of sustainability – converging environmental with economic and social sustainability.

Our policy-makers have high ambitions. The EU Green Deal is the flagship policy for the next five years. The Farm to Fork Strategy is one of its main pillars and it has identified the EU food chain as the #1 polluter.

How are consumer co-ops helping?

We are frontrunners in renewable energy, leading to decentralisation of the energy sector, empowering citizens and consumers, which further enhances the establishment of energy communities based on self-help, self-responsibility, fairness, equity; all of which are co-operative tenets.

Consumer co-operatives’ mission is to serve citizens and local communities. As such, we cover the entire food chain and have a responsibility to strive for a balanced, strong, transparent and sustainable business environment and supply chain. In the retail sector, we contribute to climate action in numerous ways. Be it through optimising product packaging, shortening supply chains, boosting energy efficiency in-store, or what we are particularly proud of, empowering our 30 million consumer-owners with knowledge and information for sustainable consumption.

More can be done.

We call on national legislators to foster people-centered and sustainability-proven models and support responsible operators, including consumer and energy co-ops, so they can maximise their potential and therefore, benefits to consumers, society and the environment in the production of clean energy, consumer empowerment, transparent and sustainable supply chain!

Policymakers must tackle several very important issues, ranging from climate action and overall environmental sustainability, the Multiannual Financial Framework, the Common Agricultural Policy, and most recently, mitigating COVID and the EU Recovery Plan.

We, as consumer co-operatives, as ready to partner with national and EU-level institutions to share our experience and useful knowledge in order to find solutions to these challenges. We have a shared commitment and mission with public authorities – to serve society and improve the lives of the people. We call them consumer-members and local communities, they call them citizens and constituencies. 

On the occasion of the 98^th International Day of Co-operatives, as celebrated by our movement, and the 26^th anniversary since it was recognised by the UN, we would like to convey our sincerest congratulations and deepest acknowledgement to our 19 national members which unite and represent 30 million member-owners across Europe, for their continued dedication and resilience in accomplishing their mission of making this world a little bit better and greener to the benefit of everyone!

Happy International Day of Co-operatives!