Debate: Towards a more disaster-resilient EU - protecting people from extreme heatwaves, floods and forest fires
Date: TUESDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2023
Speaker: Janez Lenarčič
Language: EN

But we also need faster, smarter and more systemic climate adaptation. We need strengthening of the resilience of our ecosystems because nature is our first line of defence against disasters. This way we will be able to protect people and ensure that the damages do not surpass our capacity to manage them. The European Union is already taking action to strengthen its collective resilience against disasters. This February we adopted – as was already mentioned – the European disaster resilience goals to assist both the Union and the Member States to better anticipate and withstand future emergencies. And these goals must now be rolled out across Europe, simply to keep people safe. Investments in preparedness and prevention save lives. They protect communities and spare budgets. Every euro invested in prevention and preparedness can save from EUR 5 to EUR 10 in response, while average annual losses due to weather and climate-related disasters already total EUR 14 billion across the Union. There is some good news: for instance, that investment in resilience is indeed increasing. For instance, allocations for disaster resilience under the cohesion policy have nearly doubled: from EUR 7 billion during the previous MFF to almost EUR 13 billion in the current MFF. And also the new instrument for recovery and resilience adds on an estimated EUR 12 billion for adaptation to climate change. Obviously, more will have to be done, but no amount of preparation and response will save our planet unless every part of society works together to tackle the fundamental cause of these disasters: climate breakdown and environmental degradation. Without such action, we are on a certain path of destruction. This July was the hottest month on record globally. And this is a warning of what an average summer will be without meaningful climate action. That’s why we must continue to integrate the European Green Deal across all sectors. How much will it cost? Well, it will cost much, much less than if nothing is done. If nothing is done, there is a doubt that there will be a liveable future for humanity on this planet. Indeed, in my view, the European Green Deal is our all-encompassing, truly cross-sectoral prevention strategy. In short, we need more response capacity, we need more resilience, and we need more climate mitigation and adaptation to prevent the worst. And we have many of the instruments and mechanisms that are needed to achieve this across every sector of the EU. We must mobilise all of this – including the common agricultural policy, including the cohesion policy, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility – to make this happen. And obviously we have to strengthen. We have to reinforce solidarity and the emergency aid reserve. We must use the mid-term point in the multiannual financial framework to reassess the funding that is devoted to disaster prevention and climate resilience. And I really encourage Parliament to support this important cause during the ongoing review process.