Promulgated on August 24, 2021, the Climate and Resilience Act includes article 101 that strengthens and expands previous laws in favor of implementing green roofs. The French government is taking these additional steps so that green roofs can be implemented more widely, particularly to promote the acceptance of biodiversity and the fight against climate change.

The European Union’s new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive falls short when it comes to the integration of living architecture, despite widespread public support for having more nature in cities and more government action on climate change.

In cities, we can reverse climate change trends if we renature urban areas. By interweaving green infrastructure within the built environment, we can tackle some of the effects of human-induced warming locally. At the same time, we can limit further urbanization, which will increase the severity of heatwaves as well as precipitation and resulting runoff intensity.

The new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change sets out the pathway to prepare for the unavoidable impacts of climate change on Europe. The strategy recognizes the multiple benefits of green roofs and walls, and includes nature-based solutions.