The planet needs our vote!

By Jean-Christophe Flatin , Chief Executive Officer, Oatly & Nina Hajikhanian, General Manager, Patagonia EMEA. 

Europe is on fire.

2023 was likely the hottest year on record in over 100,000 years and Europe is the fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global rate. Scientists believe the already record number of fires facing the continent will increase tenfold in the coming years.

We face escalating climate risks at an alarming rate, from scorching heatwaves and relentless droughts, to torrential rainfall triggering floods, and rising sea levels. Indeed, many believe we are at the precipice of catastrophic – and irreversible – climate change.

Patagonia and Oatly have more in common than you might think on first consideration. We both have a long history of campaigning for a liveable and just future and challenging broken systems. We would never claim we are perfect but we both stand for experimenting with business unusual – with the objective of protecting our home planet. And today, we are coming together with a simple message: Business leaders of Europe, join us in mobilising your employees, your communities and your customers to vote in the upcoming EU elections. Give them the tools to see the importance of these elections on the future health of our planet, and the time to cast their vote.

The 2024 European Parliament elections in early June are a pivotal moment for the health of the planet and the people on it – today and tomorrow. Over the next five years, the Members of European Parliament we choose will need to make huge decisions that will impact our planet’s future. They can speed up the transformation to tackle climate change, regenerate ecosystems and have a positive social impact, or they can reverse it, leading to even more dramatic food, water, energy and financial insecurity.

Against these high stakes we see an alarming trend. In the last European Parliament elections, 49% of eligible EU citizens did not vote.

Low voter turnout and lackluster youth engagement are clear symptoms of the distance that many citizens feel from the decisions that are taken in Brussels on behalf of Europe. Many of us just don’t see how European politics affects our lives or impacts nature and our surrounding habitats, and this leaves space for the predicted shift away from environmental ambitions at EU level. Political backlash against the Green Deal, and environmental regulation more broadly, is widespread in the campaign.

We can’t afford for this to happen. It would mean crucial environmental issues being deprioritized in the next mandate when, in reality, the EU needs to step up and take rapid action on climate change, leading the way towards a strong, secure, and prosperous future. Fully embracing the European Green Deal with its goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. The EU’s own scientific body is recommending decreasing greenhouse gas emissions with 95% by 2040.  These are progressive moves that responsible businesses need to advocate for, alongside NGOs and scientists.

This calls for action!

What we are doing:

• Taking a stance as responsible businesses, by calling for stronger environmental protections, and for the EU to deliver on its green commitments in the next mandate.  
• Making it easier for our employees to cast their votes. We are offering time off for all employees within EU to cast their vote. In the case of Oatly and Patagonia this means around 1000 employees across the four days of voting, working in multiple markets and functions ranging from factory teams, retail staff and regional employees. We are also organizing educational programs to encourage them to talk about the importance of voting with their own networks.
• Engaging our communities across Europe, to help spread the message about the importance of voting, and to multiply their impact by encouraging friends, families and networks to do the same – with the view of increasing voter turnout.

 As a leader, please ask yourself: what can I do to encourage my team to cast their vote, to think of the planet when they do so, and to inspire others to do the same?

As an employee, you can help shape the future by voting and encouraging your leadership to advocate for a better future.

Please join us. The time to act is now. 

Jean-Christophe Flatin , Chief Executive Officer, Oatly & Nina Hajikhanian, General Manager, EMEA, Patagonia