Green Week 2024: Towards a water resilient Europe
Detalles
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In the face of recurrent water-related crises, this edition of the annual conference will discuss what is needed to make the EU more water-resilient, today and tomorrow. Water is a shared vital resource that must be passed down from generation to generation and one of the essential elements for people, the environment and a just, sustainable and resilient economy. In recent years, citizens in different parts of the continent have faced an increase in natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, which have further exacerbated the EU’s water challenges and triggered a new awareness of the need to ensure a water-resilient Europe. The pressures on water resources are not only due to the impacts of climate change, but also mainly to decades of structural mismanagement of this precious resource and to the pollution and degradation of ecosystems. But water resilience is not just a challenge for the EU. Around the world, the water cycle is out of balance, closely intertwined with climate change and biodiversity loss, which exacerbate each other. The need to address water resilience is high on the EU’s environmental agenda. To this end, in March the Commission launched, as announced by President von der Leyen in the 2023 State of the Union address, a water resilience initiative that includes a series of immediate actions and initiates a public debate on how to achieve water resilience. This will also lay the groundwork for possible further actions in these areas in the Commission’s next term of office. EU Green Week 2024 is part of a wider communication campaign dedicated to the topic of water resilience. The aim is to stimulate an EU-wide conversation on the present and future of water in the EU, with an emphasis on raising awareness and promoting positive and collaborative solutions. At the conference, guest speakers will discuss various aspects of integrated water management. This includes topics such as: – Fostering a water-smart economy within the EU. |
