Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-05-Speech-3-227"
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"en.20070905.22.3-227"2
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"Mr President, it is one of life’s little ironies that this discussion should take place after the summer’s tragic events in southern Europe. These disasters will unfortunately play a major part in changing the landscape and creating future environmental problems.
Indeed, desertification concerns not only the European Union, but the whole planet. If, then, the EU wishes to make its presence felt, it must take appropriate steps, and not go to Madrid merely as an observer.
Desertification is not a modern problem; it has been with us for decades. In the past, the gradual deterioration of fertile soil has been a complex process. It has multiple causes and proceeds at varying rates according to climatic differences.
For example, desertification may intensify an existing general climatic tendency towards greater dryness, or it may initially arise from a change in the local climate. It is important to stress that the presence of a nearby desert has no bearing on desertification. Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification only comes to the public’s attention once the process is well under way.
There is often very little information available to indicate the previous state of the ecosystem or the degree of degradation. We therefore need to be particularly careful about what is to be done with the burnt land in southern Europe: in the near future there is a danger of climate change, which could well cause desertification in the stricken regions.
Scientists also happen to be investigating whether desertification is a permanent factor in the process of global change, and how and when desertification can be stopped or reversed. This will be one of the topics for discussion at the United Nations International Conference.
More efficient use of existing water resources and control of salinisation are effective tools for areas of dry soil. There are also ways of using surface water resources such as rainwater.
In addition to science, politics can be considered as a useful tool for combating desertification. If we are to halt and reverse the degradation of dry and semi-barren soil, we must understand how and why the rate of climate change, population growth and food production affect these environments.
The most effective intervention arises only from the prudent use of the best information. As a conclusion to this discussion, a resolution on the European Union’s aims has been submitted to the United Nations Conference.
Let me emphasise two points which I consider to be very important. First, it is finally time for the EU to fork out, if it wishes to call itself the ‘European Union’; it must assign legally binding funding to actions to combat desertification. Second, the EU should not rob Peter to pay Paul: it cannot present itself as protector of the environment having failed to promote mandatory general regulations prohibiting the import into the EU of illegal timber that has not been sustainably felled."@en1
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