A delegation of nine MEPs from the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) called for the creation of a new Climate Change Adaptation Fund on Thursday 24 February, at the end of a three-day parliamentary visit to the German and Belgian regions hit by last summer’s catastrophic floods.
The REGI Committee Chairman, Younous Omarjee (The Left, France) once again made a strong case for the creation of such a fund (see EUROPE 12787/11).
In a Twitter post, the MEP deplored the absurdity of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding infrastructure that is not adapted to climate change, which will be “washed away” or “destroyed” by more and more extreme weather events, such as those that hit Belgium or Germany last summer.
“We cannot continue in this way. Today we need to build differently, taking into account the impact of these extreme weather events linked to climate change”, said Mr Omarjee. For him, the adaptation of infrastructure represents an additional cost that European regions cannot afford. In his view, the Fund has become “absolutely necessary and essential”.
At the plenary session in Strasbourg on 17 February, Mr Omarjee had addressed the European Commission and explained that this fund would be based on a mapping of risks and needs as well as on national climate change adaptation plans.
The idea is to repeat the experience of the Just Transition Fund, which was originally a request from the European Parliament, especially as the EU Solidarity Fund has shown its limits in responding to disasters that are becoming more frequent and more severe (see EUROPE 12787/9).
In addition to Omarjee, Pascal Arimont (EPP, Belgium), Tom Berendsen (EPP, Netherlands), Ralf Seekatz (EPP, Germany), Ciaràn Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Ireland), Alexandra Geese (Greens/EFA, Germany), Niklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany, coordinator), Maximilian Krah (ID, Germany) and Martina Michels (The Left, Germany, coordinator) joined the call.
MEPs were in Valkenburg (Netherlands), the Ahr Valley and Euskirchen (Germany), as well as Eupen and Verviers (Belgium), from 21 to 23 February, to take stock of the relief measures taken in these regions following the severe floods and landslides that hit several European countries in the summer of 2021. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)