Riga/Brussels, 19 March 2021 - Environment Protection and Regional Development Minister Artūrs Toms Plešs today, in an online presence on the European Commission's Digital Day, expressed Latvia's support for the declaration on the green and digital transformation of the European Union (EU).
EU Member States support measures to mobilise investment in green and digital technologies to accelerate climate action, help create jobs, boost growth and allow the EU to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis stronger, greener and more resilient.
Minister Arthur Tom Pleass (AP!): "Although the level of maturity of the green and digital EU varies across countries, overall, barriers and challenges to transforming the economy, society and public sector could be similar in all EU countries. In Latvia, environmental and digital transformation issues are under the responsibility of one ministry. If it looked like an unusual combination many years ago, it is currently the most successful solution that embodies the nature of our efforts – using digital transformation to move towards a green transition U. At national level, our views are in line with the words of the Declaration on Green and Digital Transformation. "
The Minister stressed that ambitious targets are being set and important steps are being taken to implement them. . Firstly, the role of the public sector should be recognised by promoting a comprehensive societal transition. Secondly, digital and environmental policies have not been sufficiently linked until now, but a systemic approach is needed that combines green and digital policies and co-financing initiatives in additional actions. The third important aspect is partnership and team work: we need to cooperate at EU level. The declaration on green and digital transformation is a major incentive for better cooperation and the integration of green and digital into politics.
The Minister pointed out that the transition to climate neutrality is one of the national priorities to be achieved through digital solutions and societal lifestyle changes. Geospatial data is particularly important in order to support further pooling of the digital environment by developing digital twins representing a real site that is in nature, with all its characteristics on the computer, in order to ensure sustainable forecasting and modelling in a wide range of areas, including climate and urban planning.
The Minister also stressed the development of the Digital Transformation Guidelines for 2021-2027, with a view to introducing targets for green and digital transformation, as well as investments for the development and modernisation of shared data spaces, infrastructure. . The Minister also noted the importance of the EC Digital Compass 2030, which highlights Europe's digital goals by 2030, to make digital infrastructure in Europe safe, efficient and sustainable.
The Minister acknowledged that the green transformation also covers ICT infrastructure, where public administration can lead, for example, by calling for green public procurement to be made mandatory in the public sector. . The Minister highlighted the potential for the use of cloud services, and particularly the sharing of cloud resources not only at national level but also at EU level. Latvia has started to develop national single cloud infrastructure to provide common computing resources and interoperability with EU shared cloud infrastructure.
During the “Digital day”, EU Member States also joined the Declaration on European Data Gateways, expressing their commitment to the EU to become a world-wide data centre based on international connectivity and other important data infrastructures. In joining the declaration on the EU standard of excellence for the nation of start-ups, EU Member States demonstrate the political will and commitment to action to ensure that all European start-ups benefit from the good practices underpinning the ecosystem of Europe and the world's most successful start-ups. At the end of the event, businesses are also invited to join the Green Digital Coalition, which will help to accelerate the transition of the ICT sector to a zero-polluting, climate neutral circular economy and move towards an innovative, sustainable, inclusive and sustainable society and economy. I.
Information prepared by:
Public Relations Department
Ministry for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
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