Una nuova strategia riuscirà a migliorare la gestione dell'acqua in Europa?

euronews (in Italiano)

Una nuova strategia riuscirà a migliorare la gestione dell'acqua in Europa?  Un terzo dell'UE è interessato dalla scarsità idrica e, a causa dell'inquinamento delle acque e dell'elevata domanda, sono necessari maggiori investimenti e innovazioni. Analizziamo i pro e i contro delle proposte della nuova Strategia europea per la resilienza idrica.  ALTRE INFORMAZIONI : http://it.euronews.com/2025/06/17/una-nuova-strategia-riuscira-a-migliorare-la-gestione-dellacqua-in-europa  Abbonati, euronews è disponibile in 12 lingue.

Transcript

00:00Musica

00:01A third of the EU is affected by water scarcity.

00:18Water pollution and wastewater are also major concerns

00:21which are being addressed at this water purifying unit.

00:25Climate change and high demand of water for economic use

00:29require investment and better implementation of legislation.

00:33To try and address all the above, the European Commission

00:37has released a new water resilience strategy.

00:40Let's find out more on EU Decoded.

00:43Only 37% of the EU's surface waters have a good ecological status

00:48and only 29% have a good chemical status.

00:51The continent is the fastest warming region in the world

00:54due to climate change, which has increased

00:57the number of water-related natural disasters.

01:00Currently, 30% of the EU suffers from water scarcity

01:03due to prolonged droughts.

01:06Meanwhile, devastating floods cost 325 billion euros

01:10in damage between 1980 and 2023.

01:14The European Water Resilience Strategy aims to reduce water pollution,

01:17prevent waste and make water accessible to all.

01:21With this strategy, the European Commission promises to help member states

01:25better implement the 2000 Water Framework Directive

01:30and three related laws.

01:32Let's hear what Europeans think about the public management

01:35of this precious common good.

01:37The day of the EU can work very much

01:41when it comes to the consumption.

01:43Every year we can say that we can say

01:46from one or two storms in the winter,

01:48but if there are not these, we will face a certain problem

01:52and there is a great possibility

01:54to fall a large percentage of our business.

01:56I hope that my parents still have enough water

02:00and sweet water to be able to live.

02:04I think it has to do with the level of pollution

02:07and more to manage the pollution that exists in the water

02:11and talk to people who treat water with these companies.

02:16Euronews reporter Amandine S. will help us decode this issue.

02:20One of the main topics that the European Commission wants to address

02:24is water pollution, particularly with chemicals called PFAS

02:29or forever pollutants.

02:31What is at stake?

02:32So PFAS are substances dubbed forever pollutants

02:35because they don't easily break down,

02:37so they tend to accumulate over time in the environment.

02:40And the problem is that research has shown

02:42that exposure to certain types of PFAS causes serious health problems.

02:48So the Commission is planning to launch a public-private partnership

02:51to support innovation to clean up pollution from PFAS and other chemicals.

02:57The polluter pays principle will be applied,

03:00so it means that public funding would be used only for the sites

03:04where it has not been possible to identify

03:06who is responsible for the pollution.

03:08Industry and agriculture are two sectors

03:11that use a lot of fresh water

03:13and also contribute to water pollution with chemicals.

03:17So will the strategy address those problems?

03:21So when it comes to water quantity,

03:23the Commission is calling member states

03:25to improve water efficiency by at least 10% by 2030.

03:30So for instance, in the agriculture sector,

03:32water efficiency could be improved through precision farming,

03:36drip irrigation, water reuse,

03:38or by using more climate-resistant crops according to the strategy.

03:43And when it comes to the industry,

03:44the Commission is, for instance,

03:46looking at the water consumption of data centers.

03:49And it's also planning to launch another public-private partnership

03:52to develop innovative methods for dry cooling.

03:57NGOs and Europe's Green Party say that this strategy

04:01is far from giving concrete answers to the problems.

04:05What are they suggesting to be done?

04:08So it's important to keep in mind

04:09that the Greens and some NGOs have criticized this strategy

04:13for lacking clear legal requirements,

04:15since it is non-binding,

04:17and for not providing dedicated funding.

04:20So that's one point.

04:20Second, they are stressing that it fails to tackle pollution at source.

04:25So they are calling for strict management

04:27of fertilizers and chemicals.

04:30According to the European Commission,

04:31around 55 billion euros is spent on water investments across Europe,

04:36but there is an annual gap of 23 billion euros to solve the problems.

04:41To address this gap,

04:42the EU's executive will allocate a larger share of the cohesion funds,

04:47which are intended for less wealthy regions, to water management.

04:51In addition, the European Investment Bank will launch a new program.

04:5515 billion euros will be available over the period between 2025 and 2027,

05:00and it aims to attract a further 25 billion euros from commercial investors.

05:06Our guest is Hildegard Bentele from Centre-right EPP Group,

05:11who shares the MEP Water Group at the European Parliament.

05:15Welcome to Euronews.

05:16One of the few concrete aspects of the European Water Resilience Strategy

05:21is increasing investment through the cohesion funds

05:26and the European Investment Bank.

05:28Will that money be enough?

05:31Well, we'll see,

05:32because the negotiations for the budget have just started,

05:35so it's important to have the priorities here.

05:38And everybody knows about the emergency

05:40and about the needs of investment into the sector.

05:45We have the figures,

05:47so we can react with the budget

05:48and better use, as you said,

05:50the cohesion policy,

05:51because we have seen that funds have not been used even for investment,

05:57so we have to think about it.

05:59The European Commission proposes voluntary targets

06:02to improve water efficiency by 10% by 2030,

06:06but there is not a roadmap or an implementation mechanism foreseen,

06:12so isn't this just good intentions?

06:14It is a good intention

06:15and it's also, I would say,

06:17a little bit modest,

06:18because 10% is not a lot,

06:21but at least it's on the agenda.

06:23And I think we can do more also,

06:25for example,

06:26through public procurement,

06:27if we prescribe

06:28that water-efficient technologies have to be used,

06:32we have to take it serious,

06:33because it's the cheapest way

06:36to save money

06:37is to become more efficient.

06:39But first of all,

06:40we have to become more transparent,

06:42because people don't know

06:43how much water they waste,

06:45how much water they use in their households.

06:47Shouldn't also more concrete measures be foreseen

06:51and even sanctions for less proactive member states

06:54in terms of preventing

06:56and recovering from water-related disasters,

07:01whether droughts or floods.

07:04We have, for example,

07:05the Water Framework Directive,

07:06and this is legislation.

07:07if you do not comply with legislation,

07:09we could sanction there,

07:11because if member states

07:12don't meet the targets of legislation,

07:14they should be sanctioned.

07:15And we have a backlog.

07:17We haven't seen a lot of progress

07:19in the last 20 years,

07:20so we have to become faster.

07:22And I would also see

07:24that the Commission

07:24is getting more rigid on that

07:26in the coming years,

07:27also with the strategy.

07:28The European Commission

07:30is focusing on improving infrastructure

07:33and technological innovation,

07:35but environmentalists say

07:37that we need to protect nature more.

07:39They suggest that water management

07:41should include protection

07:43of moors and wetlands,

07:45as well as reducing the use

07:47of fertilizers and pesticides.

07:50You Decoded will continue

07:51to follow water protection efforts in Europe.

07:54Stay tuned.

Categoria

Trascrizione

Consigliato