14 March – The International Day of Action for Rivers

The International Day of Action for Rivers

is a day dedicated to solidarity – when diverse communities around the world come together with one voice to say that our rivers matter. That communities having access to clean and flowing water matters. That everyone should have a say in decisions that affect their water and their lives. That it’s our time to stand up for these rights, now more than ever.

This year’s Day of Action for Rivers theme focuses on Women, Water, and Climate Change. Last year, 100 women from 32 countries who are leading efforts to protect and defend rivers gathered at the first Women and Rivers Congress .

More information on all events. Some has bee canceled (Coronoa)

> https://www.internationalrivers.org/dayofactionforrivers

Environment council meeting in Brussels : 9 Member States on the way towards a non-revision of the WFD

During the last Environment council meeting March the 5th, 4 Member states (AU, DK, FR, and GR) clearly asked for no revision to the directive  and 5 Member states (DE, ES, FI, IT, CY) made supportive statements to the fitness check conclusions & expressed the need for better implementation. This is good news for rivers, and these 9 supportive Member states represent 64,75% of the EU population.

Thank you to these ministers for their commitment. For France, we would particularly like to congratulate the French Minister for the Environment Elisabeth Borne for having positioned herself to maintain the Water Framework Directive in its current form.

More info : the recording of the discussions are still available on the Council’s website.

European citizens say their support to the Water Framework Directive

Prior to the exchange of views between Ministers on the evaluation of water legislation at the meeting of the Council (Environment) on 5 March 2020 in Bruxelles , European citizens are calling their Minister of the Environment.
They ask to commit to a strong application of water legislation and to mainten the Directive in its current form.

More infos

 

Ministers Council (Environment) on March 5 in Brussels: ministers are invited to support the water framework directive in its current form

Prior to the exchange of views between Ministers on the evaluation of water legislation at the meeting of the Council (Environment) on 5 March 2020, we would like to call Ministries attention on the importance of the follow-up of this evaluation for securing healthy freshwater resources in Europe. We kindly encourage Ministers to come together with 375000+ citizens, nearly 6000 scientists, and 130+ civil society organisations and take a strong stand in support of maintaining the Water Framework Directive in its current form.

Currently, 60% of our rivers and lakes in Europe are not in good status. The next decade will be crucial for combating climate change and environmental protection as says differents report from IPBES, AEE 1.

The relevance of the Water Framework Directive can no longer be questioned – the fitness check conclusions 2 highlighting the EU Water Framework Directive to be “fit for purpose”, acknowledging that the objectives of the law “are as relevant now as they were at the time of the adoption”. These conclusions are an unparalleled opportunity to speed-up the efforts on water protection, but also challenge climate change, water scarcity and pollutants of emerging concern for whom the report says that the Water Framework Directive flexible enough to accommodate this emerging pressures.

While we are heading towards the deadline for the 3rd River Basin Management Plans, due by the end of 2021, river basin authorities need legal certainty to be able to plan and finance  the measures that will truly help achieve good status in all surface and ground waters, a goal that we all share.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Zero Pollution Action Plan offer tremendous opportunities to address hydromorphological, diffuse and point source pollution pressures on European rivers and lakes. The European Green Deal can and should be harnessed to the objective of reaching a good water status in 2027, not hampered by an unresolved debate.

We therefore urge the ministers to affirm their position and their commitment not to modify the Water Framework Directive.

_________________

1 The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reported that aquatic ecosystems are among the most degraded in the world. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2020 has determined water crisis’s to be one of the top 5 global risks 5 years in a row (2015-2020). And according to a recent publication by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) the key impacts climate change will have on Europe are increased droughts and heavy rainfall and floods.

2 Since October of 2017, the European Commission announced the fitness check of the Water Framework and Floods Directives. 3 years later, after an extensive evaluation and search for evidence, the process has come to a crossroads. The fitness check conclusions stated clearly “The fact that the WFD’s objectives have not been reached fully yet is largely due to insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation.” Moreover a recent analysis on the WFD conducted by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology reaches the same conclusions as to the fitness check: “Reasons for the poor performance are not down to the Water Framework Directive itself. In fact, this is a technically sound and expedient policy document.”

More info  

Wild Rivers go’s Alps

The Wild Rivers project and its label  will be implemented in the alpine countries and then in the Balkans.

European Rivers Network  has established a partnership with WWF for the alpine region and with EURONATUR for the Balkan region.

Starting in April 2020 * is  you can apply for the label and download all documents for the alpine countries, later on for the Balkan region.

More information > https://www.ern.org/en/wild-rivers/ 

 

* postponed to 2021 due to  Covid 19 epidemie  

Christmas comes early for rivers and nature: European Commission concludes EU water law is “fit for purpose”

Yesterday, 11 of Decembrer, European Commission release the fitness check results and they are largely positive, concluding the EU Water Framework Directive to be “fit for purpose”, acknowledging that the objectives of the law “are as relevant now as they were at the time of the adoption” and that the law has led to “a higher level of protection for water bodies and flood risk management”. The results also saying that any lack of progress is due to ‘insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation’.

The conclusions also reference that : ‘water policy is very important to European citizens. The public consultation received more than 370,000 responses in total, which is an exceptionally high number’. Congratulations to all citizens and NGOs participated through the #ProtectWater campaign making this happen. And of course Living Rivers Europe coalition will be closely monitoring next steps.

These results are a very important first step towards bringing our European freshwater bodies back to life and must revitalize Member States who are now finalising their River Basin Management Plans to achieve the WFD’s objectives during the 2022-2027 cycle. This is an unparalleled opportunity for them to triple and speed-up their efforts on water protection, but also challenge climate change, water scarcity and pollutants of emerging concern for whom the report says that the Water Framework Directive flexible enough to accommodate this emerging pressures.

More infos
>Read Living Rivers Europe press release below
> More info about the campaign and Living Rivers Europe
> press release from ‘European Commission”

Media release

The European Commission’s final evaluation of EU water legislation has concluded the EU Water Framework Directive to be “fit for purpose”, acknowledging that the objectives of the law “are as relevant now as they were at the time of the adoption” and that the law has led to “a higher level of protection for water bodies and flood risk management”.

This concludes the two-year evaluation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and, by discarding the possibility of revision, sets the EU back on course to bring life back to its rivers through full implementation and enforcement of the law.

The message from the European Commission is clear: the WFD is a critical pillar of the EU’s environmental legislation and is here to stay in its current form. The fitness-check results highlight that the delay in reaching the WFD’s objectives is “largely due to insufficient funding, slow implementation and insufficient integration of environmental objectives in sectoral policies, and not due to a deficiency in the legislation.”

The conclusions come hot on the heels of the European Environment Agency’s State of the Environment Report 2020, which highlighted the WFD as being essential to halting and reversing biodiversity loss. The conclusions are strongly supported by WWF, EEB, Wetlands International, the European Rivers Network and European Anglers Alliance – who together form the Living Rivers Europe coalition and led the #ProtectWater campaign to safeguard the WFD. 

Andreas Baumüller, Head of Natural Resources at  WWF’s European Policy Office and Chair of the Living Rivers Europe coalition, said

“By signing off the Water Framework Directive as fit for purpose, the European Commission is standing shoulder to shoulder with the hundreds of thousands of European citizens, scientists and civil society groups who have all championed the WFD over the past two years. 

We congratulate President Von der Leyen on sealing the deal before the end of the year. As the results point out, slow implementation is to blame for not having yet reached the WFD’s objectives. As expressed yesterday upon the publication of the European Green Deal, the Commission now needs to put its money where its mouth is. It must ensure that Member States submit ambitious plans and concrete actions to achieve the law’s objectives by 2027, and that this is supported by dedicated funding.”

Mark Owen, Freshwater Policy Advisor to the European Anglers Alliance and Living Rivers Europe partner, said
 
“For 20 years we have been battling Member States to properly implement the Water Framework Directive as the most sustainable way of restoring fish stocks for the millions of anglers who take part in recreational fishing, the thousands of jobs that depend on angling together with the rural economies that directly benefit from angling tourism. Now that the fitness check has determined that the WFD is not only fit for purpose but that failure is due to lack of implementation by Member States, we would expect urgent action to conform with the present legal requirements to deliver for fish and fishing.”

Support for the WFD stretches far and wide 

Just last week, an open letter from 5,500+ scientists was sent to Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Sinkevičius, calling on them to “save and implement the Water Framework Directive” in order to halt and reverse the catastrophic decline in freshwater biodiversity. Earlier this year, 375,386 citizens took a stand for the WFD through the #ProtectWater campaign, which facilitated citizens’ participation in the European Commission’s public consultation on the WFD (the only opportunity for the general public to have its say during the fitness-check) to express their clear opposition to changing the legislation. This made the public consultation on the WFD the third largest in the history of the EU. It went on to be supported by more than 130 civil society organisations, including national partners and offices of Greenpeace, BirdLife and Friends of the Earth, as well as unions. 

A well enforced WFD must be at the heart of the European Green Deal

The gifts people and nature receive from healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands are key to delivering the four main pillars of the European Green Deal. From supporting climate adaptation to protecting biodiversity, fuelling sustainable food systems to thriving economies, a strong WFD forms the necessary baseline to secure all the benefits healthy freshwater ecosystems provide. 

Next steps

Looking ahead, it is now important to pull all efforts towards reaching the objectives of the WFD by 2027. 

There is a long way to go. 60% of EU surface waters are not healthy, failing to meet the WFD’s standards. Last week’s State of the Environment Report 2020 showed that, out of the four freshwater indicators analysed by the EEA, only one has shown progress over the last 10-15 years. For all indicators, the outlook to 2030 is “a mixed picture”. 

However, Member States are now finalising their plans to achieve the WFD’s objectives during the 2022-2027 cycle (known as River Basin Management Plans). This is an unparalleled opportunity for them to triple and speed-up their efforts on water protection. The European Commission needs to embark all actors together in an ambitious vision for healthy and clean waters in Europe, one which requires political will, enforcement of the legislation, and investments.

 

Contact:

Sophie Bauer
Communications Officer (Freshwater)
WWF European Policy Office
sbauer@wwf.eu 
+32 471 05 25 11

Claire Baffert
Senior Water Policy Officer
WWF European Policy Office
cbaffert@wwf.eu 
+32 49273 1092

5,500+ scientists call on European Commission to defend the EU water law

6th of Décember , an open letter from 5,500+ scientists was sent to Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Sinkevičius, calling on them to “save and implement the Water Framework Directive” in order to halt and reverse the catastrophic decline in freshwater biodiversity.  Congratulations to all signatories for this commitment!
It is still possible to join the statement and sign.

NGOs and Living Rivers Europe Coalition reaction

“Scientists and academics concerned by the dire state of European rivers, lakes and wetlands have released a statement calling on the EU to fully implement and enforce its own water law – the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) – in order to halt and reverse the catastrophic decline in the world’s freshwater biodiversity.

The statement has been endorsed by twelve scientific bodies representing over 5,000 scientists, and nearly 500 individual scientists specialising in the wide array of species impacted by the WFD – from amphibians to insects, freshwater fishes to birdlife. The scientists include Dr. Jörg Freyhof, Regional Chair of the IUCN/WI Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, and Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Director of Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research.

The statement was released earlier today alongside an op-ed for Euractiv by Professor Steven Weiss – a freshwater biodiversity expert at the University of Graz and one of the statement’s signatories.

The statement describes the WFD as a critical tool for ensuring that Europe has “healthy and resilient freshwater bodies to support people and nature, today and in the future”, stressing that ‘There cannot be an effective European Green Deal without healthy freshwater ecosystems at the heart of it’. The statement is released as the European Commission is in the final stages of a standard evaluation of the WFD – known as a “fitness-check” – which is designed to assess whether the law is still relevant and fit for purpose. The final conclusions of this evaluation are expected next week.

Andreas Baumüller, Head of Natural Resources at  WWF’s European Policy Office, said:
“EU Member States and business lobbies have been using the fitness-check of the Water Framework Directive to push for weaker environmental standards. The European Commission’s silence has been deafening, and it has continued to allow the impact of the WFD to be gutted by poor implementation and abuse of exemptions. We hope this massive call from thousands of scientists acts as a final wake-up call for the Commission: This law is the right tool to protect Europe’s rivers, any watering down of it would put the European Green Deal in serious jeopardy.”

ENDS

Contact:
Alexandra Chevalier
WWF European Policy Office
achevalier@wwf.eu
0032 48449 4354

Claire Baffert
Senior Water Policy Officer
WWF European Policy Office
0032 49273 1092

# Protect Water : handover public consultations signatures officially

Jeremy Wates, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) on the behalf of Living Rivers Europe coalition handovered the public consultation’s signatures officially. It took place ahead of the informal meeting of the Environment Council, 21-22 May, with Commissioner Vella, Romania as the Council Presidency, Austria and Luxembourg.

Remember : From the 9 October to 12 March, through the #ProtectWater campaign, more than 375,000 citizens accross Europe expressed to the European Commission their wish for the WFD to remain unchange.

(From left to right: EU Director General for Environment, Mr. Callega Crespo; EU Commissioner Vella; Minister Gravilescu (Environment Minister for Romania); EEB Secretary General Jeremy Wates (representing the campaign); Minister Dieschbourg (Environment Minister, Luxembourg); Mr. Gunter Liebel (Water Director, Austria), Minister Denes (Minister of Waters and Forests, Romania).

More info about the Protectwater campaign and Living Rivers Europe

Germany’s representative at Environment Council, State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth, stated that the WFD should not be re-opened.

During the last informal meeting of the Environment Council , 21 st of May: Germany’s representative at Council, State Secretary Jochen Flasbarth, stated that the WFD should not be re-opened.

This official statement was accompanied by a tweet: 

(Translation: At today’s informal Environmental Council in Bucharest, I made it clear that we don’t want changes to the Water Framework Directive. The objectives for good status of our waters must be reached with ambition by 2027.)

Congratulations for defending one of the most advanced environmental legislation in Europe ! This is great news for all citizens who have signed the Protectwater campaign ! An inspire momentum to followed by other Member states !

More info see our last related news

New report by WWF / TNC : “Connected and flowing : a renewable future for rivers, climate and people”

13th of May,  WWF and TNC launched a major report on the accelerating the renewable revolution in Paris,  just before the opening of the WorldHydropower Congress.
This report “Connected and Flowing: a renewable future for rivers, the climate and people” shows how for the first time global climate (keep warming below 1.5 degrees) and energy goals (provide power to the 1 billion people who currently lack access), without sacrificing the world’s remaining free flowing rivers – wich deliver a number of critical ecosystem services.

 The report is a collaboration between WWF,TNC, IUCN, the Stimson Center, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Los Angeles, Manchester University and Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment.

> More infos on the WWF Site