On 15 September, following a lively plenary debate, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on increasing the Union's efforts to fight climate change. 469 votes in favor, 34 against and 44 abstentions indicate that a vast majority understands the burning urgency of prevention, preparation and mitigation in the face of what could well become the slow-motion trainwreck of our civilization.

Following a summer of devastating droughts, forest fires and widespread extreme weather phenomena everywhere in Europe, the European Parliament gathered to debate a comprehensive set of recommendations, calling on the Commission to propose a comprehensive, ambitious and legally binding European climate adaptation framework with particular emphasis on the EU’s most vulnerable regions. MEPs urged an EU-wide climate risk assessment, with special attention paid to drought, fire and health risks, and demanded an EU climate resilience “stress test” for key infrastructure by summer 2023. Beyond that, the EU should also continue to play an active role in defining a global goal for adaptation and in ensuring the international community meets its goal for international climate finance.

Adopted with an overwhelming majority, the resolution text is essentially an impressive list of recommendations with strong focus on civil protection, infrastructure resilience, disaster preparedness and food security. Especially interesting for the water sector is a call on the Commission to present a comprehensive EU water strategy. The resolution calls for general efforts to reduce the overall water use and “to increase the use of water reuse techniques, water-saving irrigation technologies and practices […] across all industrial, residential and commercial water cycles and applications”. It also calls “for the amendment of current legislation to encourage the reuse of water in industries that use a lot of water while respecting the strictest quality criteria”, and underlines the direct impact of water efficiency on the energy-water nexus.

For further information please follow the link to the resolution text adopted 15^th September 2022.