Wetlands International Europe joined with a diverse network of European organisations calling for urgent action on water resilience. The organisations are united by our concern for healthy freshwater and marine ecosystems, and include those representing nature, sustainable agriculture and cities, drinking water suppliers and workers.
In the face of more intense and frequent extreme weather events related to climate change, we believe that the EU should accelerate its action to address recurrent water scarcity and protect society against the catastrophic effects of droughts, floods, wildfires and sea level rise, by prioritising healthy freshwater and marine ecosystems – rivers, lakes, wetlands, deltas and coastal areas – at its core.
To ensure that water resilience through nature-based solutions is a political priority under the next European Commission, we are calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to launch the communication on the EU’s Water Resilience Initiative before the 2024 European elections as set out in the European Commission Work programme for 2024.
We believe that further delay in launching the initiative, including its consultation and communication actions, would send a very wrong signal that addressing climate resilience can wait, when climate change is already hitting citizens and nature hard.
Open-letter-to-the-President-of-the-European-Commission-on-water-resilience.pdf
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