SGI Europe calls for both strong climate and water resilience plans to safeguard critical services of general interest in Europe

On 12 March 2024, the European Commission published its communication “Managing climate risks - protecting people and prosperity”. It addresses the mitigation aspect of climate change, focusing on the need to manage climate risks in Europe by giving guidance and recommendations to Member States on how to prepare and implement climate policies.

Following the presentation of the communication, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe's General Secretary, said:

“Finally, focusing on the need to build resilience and adapt Europe’s socio-economic infrastructure to climate change, the communication rightly places the issue of preparedness in the spotlight while leaving the expertise to each Member State on how to best implement climate policies. We now call for further developing an EU foresight capacity to anticipate and prevent future crises through reinforcing Europe’s capacity to adapt.”

“SGIs are crucial to the well-being of citizens and companies. As providers of services at the heart of the management of climate change, our members act on both mitigation and adaptation. They should be able to project themselves, identify weak spots and shortcomings, and develop strategies to guarantee the continuation of their operations. For this, all critical infrastructures that contribute to building resilience for Europe must be recognised.”

“Considering the latest climate risks assessment on water scarcity published on Monday by the European Environmental Agency, SGI Europe strongly recommends taking specific measures to safeguard this irreplaceable good. Priorities must be set if there is competition for the use of qualitative and quantitative public drinking water. We call for the water supply to be protected by ensuring that public services and SGIs are supported with a strong political will to perform the functioning of water supply and wastewater disposal. This can be best reflected with a dedicated EU Water Resilience roadmap, as highlighted in the joint letter co-signed by SGI Europe and 20+ other organisations yesterday.”