UNFCCC secretariat
The Executive Secretary
Christiana Figueres
UN Campus
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1
53113 Bonn
06/11/2015
Dear Ms Figueres,
At the end of November of this year, the world will look to Paris to the 21st Climate
Conference of the United Nations. Crucial importance is attributed to this
conference with the target to pass a new international climate protection agreement
subsequent to the Climate Protection Protocol of Kyoto. You are going to participate
in this conference, therefore we wish you every personal success and would like to
ask you for support and respective exertion of influence.
The ELCA, the European Landscape Contractors Association for gardening and
landscaping extraordinarily welcomes the targets set by the conference hoping that
a presentable agreement will be reached so that in the future we will be able to
sustainably and bindingly work on achieving improved climate protection targets.
In this connection, ELCA feels compelled to especially point out once again the
important key role of cities and municipalities regarding the improvement of climate
protection. In this connection green infrastructure with parks and green open
spaces, trees alongside roads and alleys, roof and façade greening are some of the
decisive factors of climate improvement and therefore of the well-being of people.
As it is generally known, cities only make up for two percent of the global land area.
Reliable forecasts, however, assume that in 2050 70 percent of then more than 90
billion people will live in cities. Under the present conditions, this would have
devastating effects on the urban climate and underlines the outstanding importance
of climate protection in cities and simultaneously the importance of the infrastructure
with living green.
Today our cities mainly suffer above all from the tendentially higher content of CO2
than the urban surrounding due to emissions of road traffic, the emission of heating
systems, industrial emissions and many others. Technical improvements are an
important part of the improvement regarding the urban climate and the problem of
particulate matter. Furthermore urban green as green infrastructure plays a decisive
role. Since urban green improves the urban climate on the basis of the following
points:
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Production of oxygen and evaporation, increasing of air humidity,
Generation of fresh and cold air for the cooling of neighbouring buildings and
open spaces,
Absorption of long-wave heat radiation,
Decreasing of wind gusts and increased wind protection for an agreeable
microclimate,
Partial or full shading under trees for a better light-climate,
Greening of buildings for an improved climate of the residential
surroundings.
Apart from that climate risks are decreased on the basis of such existing and
maintained infrastructure. This is especially done by
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Temperature equalizing green of leaves, shading for a decrease of extreme
temperatures,
Absorption and filtering of air pollutants and particulate matter,
Retention of (peak) precipitation due to unsealing of areas, local seepage of
the precipitation and retention of precipitation on surfaces of leaves,
Retention of precipitation due to greening of roofs and façades,
Large-area evaporation promoting a decreased heat load of urban housing
areas.
Against this background and new findings the ELCA together with 23 national
European member associations and their six Green City Initiatives as well as their
partner organisations in Japan, USA and Canada appeal to you personally and to
all participants of the forthcoming climate conference to attribute the appropriately
important role to the green infrastructure in the communiqués and agreements.
It will not be sufficient to just see and demand technical solutions. The improvement
of the green infrastructures has the role, how for example our commitment in the
report of the EU Commission “Green Infrastructure (GI)–Enhancing Europe’s
Natural Capital”, COM (2013 249) will be finally published and maintained.
According to this report, it is inevitable and compulsory to consider the green
infrastructure in the plans regarding the improvement of climate protection.
For this purpose, we hereby ask you for your support. We would be grateful if you
would inform the participants at the UN climate conference in Paris about our
petition. Thank you very much.
With kind regards
Dr. Hermann Kurth
Chief Executive