June 2013 editorial
Dismantling of environmental governance systems in Italy, Spain and Greece, oil and gas drilling plans in ecologically sensitive areas of the Mediterranean, weakening of important EU environmental policies. On the other end of the equation, collective initiatives bring together millions of citizens in demand for socially just and environmentally sustainable policies. This is the environmental state of play in crisis hit Europe.
Now is indeed the time for Europe to take the vital U-turn towards sustainability. In these challenging times, initiatives that promote resource efficiency and green economy solutions are more pertinent than ever. On June 25th, WWF’s Danube Carpathian Programme and the European Commission co-organised a really important conference in Bulgaria, one of Europe’s poorest member states: "Saving Resources: Moving towards a resource-efficient, 'green' economy in the Danube region”. Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik opened the conference, stressing the importance of resource efficiency and conservation of the natural capital and green infrastructure, as vital to human wellbeing and sustainable economic recovery.
We sincerely hope you find this bulletin on the environmental dimensions of the crisis interesting and useful to your work. Please share with us any information you consider “hot” and relevant.
Theodota Nantsou, WWF Greece & Isabella Pratesi, WWF Italy