New environment commissioner tasked with tackling growing water crisis

Swedish government minister Jessika Roswall is set to direct the EU’s response to increasingly frequent periods of drought and flooding following her nomination today (September 17) to oversee the environment, water resilience and a competitive economy portfolio in the next European Commission.

Roswall, 51, will – subject to a successful hearing before MEPs in the coming weeks – have to produce the water resilience strategy that von der Leyen shelved earlier this year to howls of protest from civil society groups. Announcing her appointment, von der Leyen said the issue would be a high priority over the coming years.

Roswall, currently Sweden’s EU affairs minister and hailing from the same European People’s Party (EPP) political family as von der Leyen, expressed gratitude for the trust placed in her and a portfolio which would be “key to EU competitiveness and the shift from fossil fuels”.

Liberal lawmaker Emma Wiesner (Sweden/Renew Europe) welcomed her compatriot’s nomination, saying she was eager to work together on a new water policy package that she dubbed a “Blue Deal”. German lawmaker Peter Liese (EPP) said Roswall was a “good choice” while calling for a “more pragmatic approach to environmental policy”.

“Above all less bureaucracy, and in the event of conflicting objectives, for example between bans on chemicals and climate protection, decisions must be taken in favour of climate protection,” said Liese.

The Swedish politician was one of four commissioners named today who will be instrumental in ensuring the implementation of European Green Deal legislation, including the legally binding goal to reach carbon-neutrality by 2050. The others are Spanish minister for ecological transition Teresa Ribera (clean and just transition), Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra (climate) and the Danish development and climate minister Dan Jorgensen (energy and housing).

When asked how decisions would be taken by Commissioners working with overlapping portfolios, von der Leyen said “the main principle is coordination” and alluded to “the reality that everything is intertwined”.

Sarah Johansson, senior policy officer for water pollution prevention at the European Environment Bureau (EEB), stressed the importance of lawmakers enforcing existing environmental laws such as the Water Framework Directive and to address in a systematic way the root causes of the triple climate, biodiversity, and pollution crisis.

“[The next environment Commissioner] will have a crucial responsibility to protect and restore the health of Europe’s freshwater ecosystems to ensure a water-resilient Europe that provides clean and sufficient water for generations to come,” Johansson told Euronews.

Ester Asin, director of WWF Europe, said actual progress in delivering climate action and furthering the green transition will largely depend on the concrete mandates for each of von der Leyen’s 26 commissioners – and their willingness to cooperate with each other.

“We need further clarification on the role of nature restoration and protection — especially in climate adaptation and water resilience,” added Asin.

While addressing an environmental conference in Munich last week, von der Leyen pointed to the urgency of the water issue, saying “the world of 2050 might be one of floods and water rationing”.  This sense of urgency was underlined by a recent call from the Portuguese minister, backed by 21 other member states, to increase water security in Europe.

Around 20% of the Europe’s territory and 30% of European citizens suffer from water stress in a given year, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA), which puts the associated economic cost at around €9 billion per year, not including damage to ecosystems. The EU’s environment watchdog further estimates that addressing the impacts of water stress could reach €65 billion per year by the end of the century, with losses mainly felt in agriculture and food systems and the energy sector as well as public water supplies.

Similarly, the total costs of mitigating flood risks for the period 2016-2021 was estimated by the Commission to be at least €14 billion.

Tania Pentcheva, director for Europe government and industry relations at the global water technology company Xylem, urged Roswall to produce the ‘European Water Security Strategy’ in the first 100 days of the new Commission, and to ensure water policy is coherent with the Clean Industrial Deal that von der Leyen has pledged to present by the same deadline.

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“This includes working closely with the Commission President and member states to support their assessment of water stress and vulnerabilities, as well as spearheading the investment needed to make water resilience a reality in Europe,” said Pentcheva.