EU pushes water resilience as heat, drought hit Mediterranean

• The Mediterranean is warming around 20% faster than the global average.
• The EU Water Resilience Strategy will be the EU's flagship for the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi.
• President von der Leyen announced a new water initiative this month.

Commissioner Roswall used her opening remarks at the 2nd Union for the Mediterranean ministerial meeting on water to press the case for deeper EU cooperation with Mediterranean partners. She said the EU sees the region as key partners and that the joint declaration comes at a timely moment.

EU pushes water resilience as heat, drought hit Mediterranean

She said the Mediterranean is warming around 20% faster than the global average. Roswall also pointed to droughts, floods, pollution and water scarcity already affecting citizens, farmers, ecosystems and economies.

Roswall said the last six months brought unprecedented heat and lack of rainfall in the EU. She added that Europe is seeing consequences including threats to energy supply, trade and growth.

She said today's ministerial declaration can help improve sustainable water management through investment, digitalisation and integration of the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus. She also said the EU's Pact for the Mediterranean provides a strategic framework for practical cooperation.

Roswall said the 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi in December will be a moment to show progress on water and sanitation access, green infrastructure, transboundary cooperation and enforceable policy. She said the conference should help translate commitments into measurable action.

She said the EU Water Resilience Strategy will be the EU's flagship for the conference. The strategy is built around restoring and protecting the water cycle from source to sea, building a water-smart economy, and ensuring access to clean and affordable water and sanitation for all.

Roswall said the EU is already acting through infrastructure investment, water efficiency, urban planning, digital solutions, flood prevention, smart irrigation and transboundary cooperation. She also cited guidance on drought management plans and an ambition to improve water efficiency by at least 10% by 2030.

She said financing remains a critical challenge and called for more public and private capital for resilient water and sanitation services, ecosystem restoration, water-efficient technologies and climate adaptation. Roswall also acknowledged the Rome Initiative.

Roswall ended by stressing transboundary water cooperation. She said more than 60 per cent of the world's freshwater flows through shared basins and that cross-border cooperation is essential for resilience, peace, stability and sustainable development.