Summer is not over yet, but one thing is clear: extreme heat is no longer an exception. We have experienced it time and again over the past few months. Hot streets, homes that struggle to cool down and neighbourhoods where shade is hard to find. Especially in neighbourhoods with a lot of paving and little greenery, heat lingers. Here, the perceived temperature can rise to as much as 45°C. Too hot to exercise outdoors, work, meet others, relax or play.

Fortunately, there is another way

Trees and other greenery provide shade and cooling. Yet, more than 800,000 people live in a neighbourhood with insufficient greenery. It is precisely in these areas that the need for cooling is greatest. Natuur & Milieu is therefore calling on the government to ensure green, cool neighbourhoods for everyone. The organisation is petitioning for national standards for greenery and more support for municipalities that want to make neighbourhoods and cities greener.

The organisation is calling on people to sign a petition addressed to the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning. The petition asks the minister to introduce laws and regulations for urban greening by embedding minimum standards for greenery and tree canopy cover in the Environment and Planning Act and elaborating these in underlying regulations, such as the Decree on the Quality of the Living Environment (Bkl). This is in line with European obligations for nature restoration in urban areas.

Municipalities will also need sufficient financial resources to implement these plans. In addition, the organisation is calling for an extra boost for the most heavily paved neighbourhoods through the development of a national action plan. Under this plan, the national government and municipalities would work together to make the most heavily paved neighbourhoods greener, ensuring that these areas in particular have sufficient greenery and trees.

Source: Natuur & Milieu