Summer is not only the season of beach time, surfing and the great outdoors. Unfortunately, this hot period also coincides with the season of forest fires. Our mind wanders back to the forest fires raging in Australia, Greece, Turkey and Italy last year. A similar pattern is emerging for this year. Large parts of Europe are already suffering the consequences of rising temperatures coupled with low rainfall. Forest fires are currently rampaging through Spain and France, new temperature records were reported for the month of June in France, and calls for a state of emergency are intensifying in Italy.
The summer period is a test case to see how far climate change has progressed in any given year. As the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) explains, climate change is leading to earlier heat waves, and the intensity, duration and frequency of bushfires are also increasing. These conclusions are reinforced by the findings of the IPCC Report on Climate Change (2022) that found that extreme weather events that have already occurred, i.e. forest fires, are already exceeding the natural regenerative capacity of some ecosystems and are leading to massive forest and coral dieback.
The message is clear: to give our planet the time it needs to recover, we must find ways to slow and mitigate climate change.
When EMAS was introduced first in 1993, it was intended as a tool for sustainable development. For nearly three decades now, the system has delivered credible, practical solutions for promoting business sustainability in Europe in line with European environmental policy objectives. However, as climate change has emerged as the greatest threat and priority of the century, and because we would like to become a real part of the climate protection effort, the scheme will need to evolve to meet this challenge. Discussion on potential pathways for EMAS has for some time now raised the question of EMAS and climate. This was discussed again in a webinar on the sidelines of the EU Green Week.
In line with the summer theme of this edition, we would also like to draw your attention to recent developments of EMAS in the tourism sector. EMAS was mentioned in the Transition Pathway for Tourism as a key tool for green transformations in the tourism sector. The report encourages tourism businesses, including SMEs, to register with EMAS and, as a result, envisions increasing the total number of tourism organizations registered with EMAS. In parallel, a pilot project in Barcelona is currently investigating how EMAS hotels can be made more circular.
In addition, the European Commission is determined to be a front-runner in the transition toward a climate-neutral society, by setting out an ambitious and realistic plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. As proof of this determination, on Earth Day 2022, the Commission made a pledge under the European Climate Pact, an EU-wide initiative that invites people, communities and organisations to participate in climate action and build a greener Europe. The Commission is the first EU Institution to pledge.
That's it from EMAS for the first half of 2022. We wish you a nice summer break!
