EU urged to tackle climate change-related water stress[fr][de] 

Speaking at a water summit co-organised by the 'Friends of Europe' think tank and the European Water Partnership in Brussels, Ger Bergkamp of the World Water Council said the EU should ensure that water features more prominently on the agenda of the United Nations climate conference due to take place in Copenhagen next year.

Much work had already been done but the EU was "almost absent" from the international discussion, Bergkamp warned.

The "paradigm shift" towards more awareness of the role played by water policies in climate change adaptation must be connected to the bigger global picture, the participants agreed, with a Chinese government representative calling on Europe to lead the world in promoting global cooperation to save water resources.      

Peter Gammeltoft, acting director on water, chemicals and cohesion at the Commission's environment directorate, confirmed this ambition, saying that Europe wanted "to play the same kind of leading role in adaptation" as it had in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Gammeltoft said the Commission was currently working on initiatives to enhance the bloc's ability to adapt to climate change. Under discussion are such topics as mitigating its impact on citizens' health and decreasing vulnerability through better land management, which can produce significant short-term results. In particular, Europeans will have to adapt the way they manage their agricultural land to changed climatic conditions, he said.

"Climate change is not the only driver of water scarcity in Europe," Gammeltoft stressed, calling for strategies to address excess water demand. Providing incentives to save water and promote effective pricing, as well as to set standards for building houses and producing domestic appliances using less water, has the potential to deliver considerable water savings, he argued.

"This is about mainstreaming water issues to a wide range of policies," he said, acknowledging the connection betweeen water and energy savings as well as the wide range of sectors involved in water policies.

The EU already has a large body of legislation on water policies, which was streamlined into one over-arching strategy after the adoption of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in 2000. While the WFD treats water as a "service of general interest," it does not recognise access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a basic human right, as demanded by many businesses, NGOs and institutions, including the Commission's environment directorate-general.

The EU executive is currently working on a White Paper on adaptation to climate change, which will also address water scarcity.