Protect Water

The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

Zimbabwe

#ProtectWater

Campaigning to save the EU water law

WWF, together with more than 130 environmental groups, campaigned tirelessly for two years to save the EU's strong water law, mobilising hundreds of thousands of citizens and scientists along the way.

The #ProtectWater campaign was launched in 2018 to defend the law that protects all of the EU’s water resources - the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The European Commission had just launched an independent evaluation of the WFD, a process each piece of EU legislation undergoes to evaluate whether it is still relevant and “fit for purpose”. Some industry groups and Member States saw this as an opportunity to weaken the law’s strong elements. Urgent action was needed.

Long story short: We did it! On 22 June 2020, the EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed that the WFD would not be opened up for revision, underscoring the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement "without changing the directive". The decision came six months after the law was concluded to be “fit-for-purpose”, following the thorough two-year evaluation.

This could not have been achieved without the support of hundreds of thousands of EU citizens and scientists, who used the #ProtectWater campaign to take a stand for the WFD. Your voices were heard. Your say had an impact.

Next stop: 100% healthy freshwater ecosystems!

Key campaign milestones

Victory for #ProtectWater!

The EU’s Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, finally declares that the Water Framework Directive will not be opened up for revision, confirming the need to focus on supporting implementation and enforcement "without changing the directive".

Find out more

Support from Member States!

During an exchange of views on the fitness check of EU water legislation, a majority of EU Member States expressed support for the fitness check conclusions on the WFD, distancing themselves from fierce lobbying from industry to weaken the law.

Find out more

WFD is fit for purpose!

The Commission publishes the conclusions of its two-year independent review, which state that the WFD is fit for purpose. The process included a public consultation, which 375,000 citizens used to call for the law to stay in its current form.

Find out more

5,500+ scientists support WFD

5,500+ scientists from across the EU to sent a letter to the European Commission, calling for the WFD to be maintained in its current form and better enforced in order to halt and reverse the decline in freshwater biodiversity.

Find out more

375,000+ citizens support WFD

375,386 citizens call on the European Commission to defend the WFD through the #ProtectWater campaign, making the EU’s public consultation on the legislation one of the largest ever in the history of the European Union.

Find out more

New analysis on industry positions

WWF & partners publish analysis outlining the positions of various industry groups on the WFD.

Find out more

Jumping for Europe's rivers

The European Rivers Network and WWF organise the biggest Big Jump ever, with 160 events taking place across 18 European countries.

Find out more

What citizens have to say

Listen to what EU citizens and scientists had to say to their governments ahead of a critical meeting on EU Environment Ministers.

Contact

Claire Baffert
Senior Water Policy Officer
+32 492 73 10 92

15 Oct 2024

Europe’s water crisis needs urgent attention, says EEA’s State of Water report

Member States must urgently accelerate the implementation of the Water Framework Directive to improve the state of our waters.

10 Oct 2024

“System in peril”: Average wildlife populations’ size declined by 73% in just 50 years, warns WWF

There has been a catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations* in just 50 years (1970-2020), according to WWF’s ...

02 Jul 2024

Rivers2Restore identifies key river restoration projects that could lessen the impact of floods & droughts

WWF’s new Rivers2Restore report is urging immediate action to restore Europe's rivers to their natural state and help deliver the EU’s recently ...

19 Jun 2024

EU Member States seek to quietly dismantle EU rules protecting water

Today, Member States’ ambassadors to the EU have adopted an agreement giving EU countries the right to pollute rather than protect our water for the ...

12 Jun 2024

EU ministers set to call for climate adaptation action and water resilience

EU Environment ministers are set to call for more action on climate change adaptation and water resilience, following the adoption of draft Council ...