Debate: The importance of urban and green infrastructure - European Year of Greener Cities
Date: THURSDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2020
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

During lockdown, we have rediscovered the comfort they provide, both physically and mentally, and during the extreme heat waves that have hit Europe this summer, we have enjoyed the cooling they brought. We all know greener cities are cooler, smarter and healthier. The ambition to green European cities and increase biodiversity in urban spaces was enshrined in the goals set out in the European Green Deal, which highlights the importance of urban green infrastructure for improving the quality of life in urban areas. Reflecting the importance of this subject, you propose in your draft resolutions a European Year of Greener Cities for 2022, which could possibly offer a platform to promote policies and to buy in support at city level to strengthen the implementation of EU environmental laws and policies and, thereby, to support delivery of the European Green Deal. I have taken note with great interest of this idea, and once adopted by this House, we will assess its feasibility and timing, also within the context of various city initiatives and programmes already under way or in the pipeline that aim to green urban areas and improve nature in cities. Now let me give you a few examples of the various initiatives and programmes through which we already today promote and scale up urban green infrastructure. The best known one, the European Green Capital, this year Lisbon and next year Lahti, and the Green Leaf awards. They reward and disseminate best practice in urban green infrastructure. The Green City tool offers guidance and advice, including on funding and capacity-building, and the soon-to-be-launched Green City Accord, which aims to support the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 by encouraging greater nature and biodiversity actions in cities. Let me also mention the Urban Partnership on Sustainable Land Use and Nature-Based Solutions, which forms part of the Urban Agenda for the EU as well as the Urban Innovative Actions programme, that supports the testing of innovative ideas in cities, including in the area of green infrastructure. The EU MAES Initiative, which provides technical guidance for cities through the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services; the Horizon 2020 policy agenda for nature-based solutions and re-naturing cities, which aims to position the EU as a leader in innovating with nature; as well as the Horizon Europe mission on climate-neutral and smart cities, which will support 100 European cities in their systemic transformation towards climate neutrality and the Biodiverse Cities pilot project, which aims to enhance the use of green infrastructure in the urban context. More generally, EU funding for cities will provide important opportunities. Member States and regions can support green infrastructure through the EU cohesion policy, and will continue to do so in the upcoming programming period for cohesion policy, including through instruments such as the LIFE programme. Let me recall that scaling up the deployment of green infrastructure plays a key part in the recent EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, which recognises the importance of green urban spaces and calls on European cities of at least 20 000 inhabitants to develop ambitious urban greening plans by the end of 2021. The biodiversity strategy also contains a roadmap for planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030, which will be part of our upcoming forest strategy. This will be particularly beneficial in cities, not least as it will help us to cool urban areas. No less than 11 000 Natura 2000 sites designated under EU nature legislation are located within urban and peri-urban areas all over the European Union. Natura 2000 sites constitute the core of EU-level green infrastructure and often offer a strong basis for the development of urban greening plans. These may include measures to create biodiverse and accessible urban forest, parks and gardens, urban farms, green roofs and walls, tree-lined streets, urban meadows and urban hedges. This should help improve connections between green spaces, eliminate the use of pesticides in cities, and limit excessive mowing of urban green spaces and other biodiversity-harmful practices. Such plans could mobilise policy, regulatory and financial tools, and the Commission will support Member States and local and regional authorities through technical guidance and will help to mobilise funding and organise capacity-building. The Commission will also reflect this objective in the European Climate Pact. The process will be facilitated through the establishment of an EU urban greening platform in 2021 in close collaboration with cities and, of course, mayors. All these new commitments, both directly on urban greening but also the EU-wide commitments on nature protection and restoration, represent a major scaling-up of the deployment of green infrastructure across all of Europe. As a key element of our biodiversity strategy for 2030, green cities remain high on our political agenda, and I am counting on your, as well as on Member States’ and regions’, support to implement our ambitious goal to bring nature back to our cities. I look forward to working very closely with you on this important subject.