Both a lawyer and environmental activist, Marie Toussaint was chosen to represent the Europe Ecologie Les Verts party in the next European elections.
Marie Toussaint, a 36-year-old from Lille, defines herself as “the candidate for the fight against inequalities and the preservation of life”. Born into a family of activists, her parents are members of the anti-poverty association ATD Fourth World which she joined during her activist journey, politics became involved very early in the fights she leads today. Having grown up “between the blocks of buildings”, in her own words, where she witnessed the social and environmental inequalities that affected her, she headed towards law studies. After her studies at Sciences Po in Bordeaux, she became involved in the citizen movement End Ecocide on Earth in 2012. At the same time, she launched into politics by joining the Young Greens.
Her commitment was strengthened when, in 2015, she founded the NGO “Our business to all”. The organization created in collaboration with Oxfam, Greenpeace and Foundation for Nature and Man, managed in 2021 to condemn the French State for its lack of commitment in the fight against global warming, thanks to a petition signed by more than 2.3 million citizens. Although the name of Marie Toussaint is not known to the general public, the environmentalist’s legal talents are recognized in the world of activism and politics. This is how she became the representative of the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) party in the European Parliament in 2019. On July 10, 2023, she was again designated as the party leader for the European elections in June 2024 following an internal vote by activists.
Fight for climate justice
Within the European Parliament, the environmentalist MP is working for the adoption of “a European environmental treaty”. She notably made herself known within the institution thanks to the recognition of ecocide, voted for by MEPs on March 29, 2023. She fought on this subject from 2020 with the creation of the International Parliamentary Alliance “l ‘Ecocide Alliance’. In addition to ecocide, she also wants recognition of the rights of the living. As the newspaper says The echoes, Marie Toussaint wants to “make the fight against poverty and inequalities the true European backbone”. For this, she proposes that “the impact of all budgets, laws, programs on the poorest 20% and 10% be analyzed” and supports the creation of “a European welfare state”. The “planet lawyer” program also extends to other forms of inequalities, such as those affecting women, young people and the most precarious.
Environmentalists vying for third place in polls
In its compilation of several surveys initially carried out for different media, the site All Europe.eu indicates that the Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) party received, as of February 28, 2024, 8.2% of voting intentions. The Green Party has seen its popularity decline since last year, when it obtained 10.5% of voting intentions in May 2023. Since December 2023, the party has stagnated around 8%. EELV is in the same range as La France Insoumise, with which the party is competing for third place in the polls with the Socialist Party (which is higher with 10.3%).