C 125/142
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
5.4.2023
Thursday 15 September 2022
6.
Supports the Commission’s intention to contribute to an overall cooling effect by setting up an EU platform for urban greening; calls on the Commission to set ambitious and specific binding targets on urban biodiversity, nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based approaches and green infrastructure, which would benefit both humans and wildlife and contribute to the overall biodiversity targets; stresses the need to include measures such as a minimum share of green roofs on new buildings, supporting urban farming, including the use of productive trees, where appropriate, ensuring that no chemical pesticides are used and reducing fertiliser use in EU urban green areas, and increasing the number of green spaces in line with the number of inhabitants;
7.
Calls on the Member States to prioritise and identify short-, medium- and long-term restoration measures for degraded ecosystems as a result of extreme weather events; calls furthermore for EU guidelines for post-emergency restoration plans to identify priority areas for the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction phases after disasters caused by floods, forest fires, heatwaves, or droughts, including recommendations to increase resilience and the revitalisation of livelihoods, economies, and the affected environment;
8.
Asks the Commission to provide guidance that stakeholders can use to boost the drought resilience of both people and ecosystems; stresses that coordinated action at the European level is also needed in the area of research and monitoring, between already existing entities such as the European Drought Observatory, the EEA, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service and other appropriate stakeholders; stresses that in the area of funding, appropriate financial support should be identified in the context of the CAP, the national recovery and resilience plans and other regional funds;
9.
Recognises the particular vulnerability of Mediterranean countries and the importance of deploying specific mechanisms and resources to deal with the risks and effects of these extreme events in these territories; highlights that drought and other climate crisis weather phenomena have not only environment impacts, but also social, cultural, economic and political impacts, increasing the risk of deepening social inequalities;
10.
Underlines the negative influence that natural disasters have on the economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU, hindering the implementation of the Union’s cohesion policy; recalls in this respect that over EUR 100 billion in cohesion policy resources will be invested in the energy transition, decarbonisation and renewables by 2030; recognises the particular vulnerability of the territories listed in Article 174 TFEU, in particular islands and mountain regions, and in Article 349 TFEU;
11.
Reiterates its support for the EU adaptation strategy; regrets however that the adaptation strategy fails to set out concrete, measurable and time-bound targets for the EU and its Member States to become climate resilient and recalls Parliament’s call for binding and quantifiable targets; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to propose a comprehensive, ambitious and legally binding European climate adaptation framework, including the appropriate legislative tools, with particular emphasis on the most vulnerable regions;
12.
Calls on the Commission to urgently draw up a comprehensive EU-wide climate risk assessment paying special attention to the risks of droughts, forest fires, health threats, ecosystem vulnerabilities and the effect on critical infrastructures and network hotspots in order to guide and prioritise short-, medium- and long-term adaptation and resilience efforts; calls for, in particular, an EU climate resilience stress test for key infrastructure to be completed by summer 2023;
13.
Points to how the climate crisis exacerbates existing inequalities; emphasises that low-income households and vulnerable people are particularly impacted by the climate crisis and require particular support to adapt to the changing climate; welcomes social policies throughout Member States that protect workers from the adverse effects of the climate crisis at the workplace and encourages Member States to integrate climate adaptation into their labour and social policies;