“Economic development and environmental protection must go hand in hand; this process must not lead to a decline in people's standard of living. Solutions must be sought comprehensively: we must ensure economic development by creating modern jobs and reducing income inequality, while simultaneously implementing, as far as possible, the ambitious goals related to mitigating climate change,” emphasised Inese Vaidere, Member of the European Parliament and member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, while opening the III International Economic Forum, which is taking place yesterday and today at the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LZA).