Countries can rewild borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief | Rewilding
Europe’s environment chief said countries should seek to rewild land borders and establish other geographical defenses for attack as a deterrent against invasion.
Jessika Roswall, EU commissioner for the environment, water resilience and competitive circular economy, said nature should be used to improve national security. “Investing in nature and using nature as natural border control is necessary and actually increases biodiversity. It’s a win-win situation,” he said.
Poland and Finland, both of which share land borders with Russia or Russian allies, have made invasion more difficult by rewilding areas near their borders. “I’ve visited them: They’re transferring the land into a more hostile nature, leaving bushes and trees. Then it’s not so easy for others to cross it,” he told the Guardian.
Restoring wetlands also provides a natural barrier, he added. “It is very difficult for big tanks to pass.”
Roswall asks countries to view nature as a defensive asset and consider the national security consequences of their environmental failures. Having a thriving natural environment is an essential part of food supply and water security, he said, both of which should be viewed as core national security assets.
“We need to invest in nature. Water is the most obvious example of this. If we do not have water, we do not exist.” [security]. see Ukraine [where water infrastructure is under attack]. “It is very important to invest in and protect infrastructure,” he said.
In an interview with the Guardian before the US-Israeli invasion of Iran, he argued that protecting towns and cities against flooding should also be seen from a security perspective. To reduce the impact of floods and droughts, “we need to invest in nature; nature-based solutions such as sponge cities,” he said. “It’s also a security issue. It’s another part of security.”
He said many parts of Europe were already experiencing “absolutely a water crisis” due to shortages, pressure on resources and, in some cases, lack of rainfall. He added that although these problems vary by region, there is another problem common to all of them and it needs to be solved urgently. “When you look at the pollution, the quality of the water, you have a problem all across Europe,” he warned. “We’re at a crossroads where we really need to focus on water. We need to work together on the quality of water as much as it is about water scarcity.”
He declined to say whether Britain, whose problems with sewage pollution began before Brexit but has attracted government attention since leaving the EU, should seek to nationalize its water industry, which is the norm in EU countries. “The main goal is to provide affordable water to everyone, we are not addressing who manages the water utilities.”
Roswall also wants the EU to address the issue of “forever chemicals”, known as Pfas, which have so far not been subject to strong controls and whose risks to human health through water and soil pollution have only recently been understood. “I’m really trying to speed this up so we can give it some time off and guidance this year,” he said.
He noted that the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries are two potential pollutants that should be paid to clean up, but said others as well as governments could also be involved. “The cleanup is bigger than that because we have a lot of dirty hotspots where we probably don’t know who the polluter is. And at the end of the day, some of that may have to be paid for with public money.”
Roswall downplayed the disagreements between the UK and the EU over Britain’s move away from the EU’s high environmental standards since Brexit, and emphasized that the EU had not backed down from its green agenda in the face of opposition from right-wing populists.
“I met Emma Reynolds [the UK environment secretary] Many times, I think we both share the same view on goals; that having high ambition when it comes to environmental standards is an imperative not only for the planet but also for our industries. [which are] “We depend on a healthy environment,” he said. “It’s not just a nice thing to have, it’s also about our well-being, our competitiveness and our security.”
He added: “We are not stepping back [on efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and protect nature]. We do it green and clean. We focus on application [environmental standards] but we need to do it in an effective and simplified way. “We do this because our industries are making the green transition knowing that this is the most competitive advantage they have in the world we live in.”
