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WHY IS NATURE RESTORATION
CRITICAL FOR THE RESILIENCE OF
EUROPEAN CITIES?
Publication date: December 2022
Authors: Sandra Naumann, Ewa Iwaszuk (Ecologic Institute)
Europe loses about 540 km² of soil due to land take annually [1], which is approximately the size of the city
of Budapest. Metropolitan areas are particularly affected due to ongoing urbanization, coming at the expense
of green and blue areas, agricultural land and other open landscapes as well as the biodiversity depending
on these habitats.
Healthy and resilient urban ecosystems and biodiversity are key to ensuring the
resilience of European cities. They provide benefits in the areas of climate change
mitigation and adaptation, mitigating noise and air pollution, food security, and
human health and well-being.
Ecosystem restoration in cities entails assisting
The proposed Nature Restoration Law sets the
natural regeneration, transforming modified
following targets for urban ecosystems directly
ecosystems to a more natural state, or creating new
targeting local and regional governments:
ecosystems. To optimize nature’s ability to provide
critical ecosystem services and wider societal
• No net loss of urban green spaces
benefits, it is critical to
increase the quality and
(compared to 2021) in every EU city,
quantity of green urban spaces, making sure
town and suburb by 2030;
these are rich in structural and functional
biodiversity. This can be achieved by restoring
• An increase in the total national area of
degraded wetlands, rewilding rivers, renaturing
urban green space by at least 3% by
brownfields and creating new semi-natural
2040 (compared with 2021), and 5% by
ecosystems and habitats (e.g. pocket parks,
2050, with a focus on net gain of urban
biodiverse green roofs or building facades) or
green space integrated into existing
creating woodlands in urban fringe areas.
Planting
and
new
building
stock
and
trees and ensuring a minimum canopy cover is
infrastructure
development
(this
key to mitigating climate change-related impacts
includes renovations and renewals);
associated with urban heat islands and heatwaves,
• A minimum of 10% tree canopy cover in
heavy rainfall events and droughts.
every EU city, town and suburb by 2050.
Why is nature restoration critical for the resilience of European cities?
HOW CAN THE NRL CONTRIBUTE TO RESILIENCE IN URBAN AREAS?1
•
Improve biodiversity: By 2030, 44% of the global GDP in cities will be at risk due to biodiversity
loss [2]. Intact vegetation cover (trees and other urban green) is the strongest explanatory variable for
variation in species density among cities worldwide [3] and a study conducted in Australia has shown
that vegetation cover below 10% results in rapid decline in species richness [4].
•
Reduce flood risk: in urban
areas, surface runoff is a primary
cause of flooding. A 10% increase in
green space or a 10% increase in tree
cover can reduce run-off in residential
areas by 5-6%. Adding green roofs to
all urban buildings could reduce
urban run-off by 17-20% [5]. A global
review has shown that at a level of an
individual site, small-scale nature-
based stormwater management
solutions can reduce run-off by 30-65
% for porous pavements, up to 90%
for bioretention and 100% for rain
gardens [6] with the effectiveness
varying with design and local
Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy, Photo by Mark Harpur
conditions.
•
Reduce risks associated with heat stress: in a European context,
a 10% increase in urban
vegetation can reduce the local temperature by an average of 0.6°C, and green infrastructure cools the
local temperature by 1.07°C on average [7]. A young, healthy tree provides a local cooling effect
equivalent to ten air-conditioners operating 20 hours per day [8]. Greening 35% of the EU’s urban surface
would generate net benefits worth €364 billion through reduced cost of cooling and €221 billion through
reduced urban heat island effect [9].
•
Mitigate climate change and save energy: Urban vegetation contributes to climate
mitigation by absorbing carbon and providing thermal insulation to buildings. Greening about 35% of
the EU’s urban surface could avoid up to 0.06 GtCO2e per year [9], equivalent to Denmark’s annual
emissions [10], with parks and (semi)natural urban green areas and blue areas showing the highest
mitigation potential per m2 in European context [11]. Green roofs and walls can make buildings warmer
in winter (up to 4.5°C) and cooler in summer, representing significant energy savings for heating and
cooling [5].
•
Reduce air pollution: levels of inhalable particulate matter can be up to 60% lower on streets lined
with trees, compared to those without trees [5]. Urban forests studied in 10 Italian cities removed over
37,000 tons of air pollutants in a year, providing a monetary benefit to human health, ecosystems and
materials equivalent to 344 million USD/year [12].
1 The data presented in this policy brief is drawn to a large extent from the findings of the impact assessment report
accompanying the proposal for Nature Restoration Law (European Commission, 2022)
2
Why is nature restoration critical for the resilience of European cities?
•
Reduce noise: planting vegetation reduces noise from traffic more effectively than man-made
barriers. If compared to concrete pavement, an area with green cover reduces noise by up to 3 decibels
[5].
•
Provide benefits to health and well-being: Green and blue (water) spaces provide benefits
to the mental and physical health and well-being of urban populations, not least through opportunities
for recreation. Residents of European areas with the most greenery were 3 times as likely to be physically
active and 40% less likely to be overweight or obese, than those living in the least green settings [5]. In
European context, exposure to green space has also shown benefits to health by reducing mortality and
morbidity from chronic diseases, improving mental health and pregnancy outcomes [13].
In order to achieve the targets of the NRL, the local governments will need to play a crucial role in establishing
supportive planning, administrative, management, monitoring, and financing mechanisms to
implement the legislation at the local level and foster local actions. An increasing number of cities already
have integrated
urban development plans, greening plans, biodiversity strategies, or open space
strategies that can provide a solid foundation for thriving urban ecosystem restoration. However, further EU
support, including support for
capacity building, technical assistance and funding (also in conjunction
with urban greening plans) will be required to support local governments in fulfilling this role.
Ljubljana, Slovenia, Photo by Eugene Kuznetsov
3
References
1.
EEA (2021), Land take in Europe https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/land-take-3/assessment
2.
World Economic Forum (2022), BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities’ Relationship with Nature. Available at:
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_BiodiverCities_by_2030_2022.pdf
3.
Aronson MFJ et al. (2014) A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic
drivers. Proc. R. Soc. B 281: 20133330. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.3330
4.
Radford et. al. (2005), Landscape-level thresholds of habitat cover for woodland-dependent birds. Biological Conservation
124(3):317-337. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2005.01.039
5.
European Commission (2022), Commissions staff working document. Impact assessment report. Annex VI-b Accompanying the
proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on nature restoration. Available at:
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-
06/Impact%20Assessment%20accompanying%20the%20proposal%20%28Part%205%29.pdf
6.
Ruangpan L, Vojinovic Z, Di Sabatino S, Leo L S, Capobianco V, Oen AMP, McClain ME, Lopez-Gun E (2020) Nature-based
solutions for hydro-meteorological risk reduction: a state-of-the-art review of the research area. Natural Hazards and Earth
System Sciences 20: 243–270
7.
Marando, F., Heris, M. P., Zulian, G., Udías, A., Mentaschi, L., Chrysoulakis, N., Parastatidis, D., & Maes, J. (2022) Urban heat island
mitigation by green infrastructure in European Functional Urban Areas. Sustainable Cities and Society, 77(November 2021),
103564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103564
8.
USDA (2010), Sustaining America’s Urban Trees and Forests. https://www.fs.usda.gov/openspace/fote/reports/nrs-
62_sustaining_americas_urban.pdf
9.
Quaranta, E., Dorati, C. & Pistocchi, A. (2021) Water, energy and climate benefits of urban greening throughout Europe under
different climatic scenarios. Sci Rep 11, 12163 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88141-7
10. Eurostat
(2022)
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/ENV_AC_AINAH_R2__custom_1203470/bookmark/table?lang=en&bookmarkI
d=4c3b32b5-c54f-43b4-9bab-82e27bbd25a0
11. Bulkeley H. (2020), Nature-based Solutions for Climate Mitigation. Analysis of EU-funded projects.
12. Manes, F., Marando, F., Capotorti, G., Blasi, C., Salvatori, E., Fusaro, L., Ciancarella, L., Mircea, M., Marchetti, M., Chirici, G., &
Munafò, M. (2016) Regulating Ecosystem Services of forests in ten Italian Metropolitan Cities: Air quality improvement by PM10
and O3 removal. Ecological Indicators, 67, 425–440.
https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.03.009
13. EEA (2019), Healthy environment, healthy lives: how the environment influences health and well-being in Europe.
https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/healthy-environment-healthy-lives
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however
those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the
European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held
responsible for them.
These policy briefs were written by IEEP and
Ecologic Institute in the Think Sustainable Europe
Network in response to the proposed EU nature
restoration law.
