EU Municipalities and Regions to Open the Floodgates for Real Action towards Restoring our Seas
Greens member Emma Nohrén presented the first draft of the opinion ‘Local and Regional Authorities Protecting the Marine Environment’ in the ENVE Commission Meeting on 26 March. The opinion was adopted unanimously via electronic vote today, 30 March. Two debates on the Green Deal were also held during the Commission Meeting.
In the draft opinion, Emma Nohrén highlights that the marine environment and biodiversity are not in a good condition. Climate change and ocean acidification are exacerbating the problem further. The key is to act quickly now. In her presentation, Nohrén said: ‘By failing the oceans we are killing our planet. We have already lost valuable time and not achieved Good Environmental Status in EU seas. Now it is time to act! Releasing the huge power of EU municipalities and regions would open the floodgates for real action towards restoring our seas’.
Local and regional authorities make a lot of decisions on a daily basis that have an impact on the marine environment. Therefore, they need to be better integrated in the national marine strategies, from consultation to the process of identifying, designing and planning measures. However, many local authorities have limited human resources, time and funds to be able to launch measures themselves. Nohrén thus calls for the creation of a European Marine Biodiversity Task Force, which could function as a pool of project managers at the disposal of regional authorities, to assist them with the planning and organisation of projects and measures. The project managers could also advise on how to apply for EU funding for such projects.
The draft opinion further asks for an investigation on how quota obligations could be used to create a market for recycled nutrients in fertilisers in the EU. This could be a way to prevent nutrients from agriculture causing eutrophication. Lastly, Nohrén calls for an Ocean Law, in the same spirit as the European Climate Law: ‘We need ambitious measurable targets and deadlines if we are going to turn the tide and reach our goal of healthy seas.’
You can find the first draft of the opinion ‘Local and Regional Authorities Protecting the Marine Environment’ here. Emma Nohrén worked in close cooperation with her expert Ulrika Ekfeldt.
The first debate held on the Green Deal focused on the Green Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with representatives from Regions4, ICLEI and Jacque Delors Institute. Greens member Josef Frey emphasised the need to use the Recovery Fund in its originally intended way. Frey said: ‘If the EU funds from the Recovery Fund are used incorrectly, huge opportunities will be lost and the original intention of the funds misused. This must be addressed. We need clear climate investments now and we have to ensure that regions, towns and cities are properly involved in the national recovery and resilience plans.’
The second debate held on the Green Deal addressed climate action in the global context, in preparation for the COP26 to be held in Glasgow. Greens member Niina Ratilainen encouraged cities and regions to go beyond the 2030 target of 55% CO2 reduction: ‘There are all the possibilities to seize the words ‘at least’ and deliver more than 55% CO2 reduction by 2030. There are already so many municipalities that aim for climate neutrality by 2030 and local and regional authorities need new policies to achieve this ‘at least’ target.’ Moreover, she reminded that the Committee of the Regions has signalled the need for Regionally and Locally Determined Contributions. These would be important in order to avoid double counting within the National Determined Contributions.