Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe
About this book
Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe, published by the European Commission in 2013, is the foundational policy document defining the European Union's approach to green infrastructure (GI) — the strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas designed to deliver ecosystem services, enhance biodiversity, and increase climate resilience across the European landscape. It accompanies the EU Green Infrastructure Strategy and provides the conceptual framework, policy rationale, and implementation guidance that underpins subsequent EU funding programmes and member state GI planning requirements. The document begins by defining green infrastructure in the EU context: a tool for delivering multiple ecosystem services simultaneously — including flood attenuation, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, urban cooling, pollination, and recreational access — through spatially connected networks of habitats rather than through isolated protected areas.
The dual scale of GI — from the pan-European level down to the neighbourhood and site scale — is emphasised, with Natura 2000 sites, river floodplains, urban parks, green roofs, and sustainable drainage systems all identified as components of a connected GI network. The publication makes the economic case for GI investment, drawing on ecosystem services valuation studies to demonstrate that the benefits of natural infrastructure frequently exceed those of equivalent grey infrastructure at lower cost. Case studies quantify the value of wetlands in replacing constructed water treatment capacity, urban tree canopy in reducing air conditioning demand, and coastal habitats in providing coastal protection against storm surge.
The policy context is set within the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and the Floods Directive, Habitats Directive, and Water Framework Directive obligations. The document advocates for GI to be routinely integrated into Cohesion Policy structural funds investment decisions, Rural Development Programme agri-environment measures, TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) corridor development, and the revision of spatial planning legislation at member state and regional levels. A chapter on financing mechanisms examines EU funding instruments available for GI — LIFE Programme, European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), Horizon 2020, and EIB lending — together with emerging private finance mechanisms including biodiversity offsets, payments for ecosystem services (PES), and green bonds.
The document concludes with a governance framework emphasising multi-level coordination between EU, member state, regional, and local authorities as the foundation for coherent GI network development.