Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Green infrastructure (GI) – enhancing Europe’s natural capital

Human society depends on the benefits provided by nature such as food, materials, clean water, clean air, climate regulation, flood prevention, pollination and recreation. However, many of these benefits, frequently referred to as ecosystem services, are used as if their supply is almost unlimited and treated as free commodities whose true value is not fully appreciated. This can result in public authorities turning to built infrastructure - grey infrastructure - as a substitute for natural solutions to problems such as flood prevention.

In Europe we consequently continue to degrade our natural capital, jeopardising our long-term sustainability and undermining our resilience to environmental shocks. As stated in the Resource Efficiency Roadmap, the failure to protect our natural capital and to give a proper value to ecosystem services will need to be addressed as part of the drive towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth which is the EU’s priority Europe 2020. The roadmap identifies investing in GI as an important step towards protecting natural capital.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 includes a commitment for the Commission to develop a GI strategy. The Resource Efficiency Roadmap states that the Commission will draft a Communication on GI. This document is the Commission’s response to these commitments. It sets out how EU-wide action can add value to the local initiatives currently underway.

Many definitions of GI have been developed. It is therefore difficult to cover all aspects in one short paragraph. The following working definition will however be used for the purposes of this Communication:
GI - a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. It incorporates green spaces (or blue if aquatic ecosystems are concerned) and other physical features in terrestrial (including coastal) and marine areas. On land, GI is present in rural and urban settings.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)249: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:249:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)155: Technical information on Green Infrastructure (GI) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:155:FIN

ESO: Background information: Environment: Investing in green infrastructure will bring multiple returns to nature, society and people http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-environment-investing-in-green-infrastructure-will-bring-multiple-returns-to-nature-society-and-people/

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