SO 2.7 wants to improve conditions of biodiversity recovery/protection by increasing the capacity of communities to maintain and enhance green/blue infrastructure and ecosystem services in the NWE regions It also intends to reduce the incidence of heat stress and of human activities on air quality, and to reduce air pollution. Combating environmental degradation as well as preserving biodiversity also represent one of the main territorial challenges for the cooperation area. The potential for additional green and blue infrastructure and protected areas in most regions of the NWE cooperation area is relatively low compared to the EU average, due to intense land use and fragmented natural ecosystems. As a consequence, the maintenance of existing green/blue infrastructure, the improvement of connectivity between protected areas and the restoration of natural and semi-natural areas is particularly important. This context calls for more efforts to develop green/blue infrastructure which ensures the protection or restoration of a wide range of ecosystems and prevents the loss of biodiversity and natural capital.
Large territories within the NWE area are concerned by high heat proneness with a higher (but not exclusive) impact in urban regions. Natural spaces replaced by built surfaces make them especially vulnerable to high temperatures and heat absorption. Rising temperatures resulting from climate change tend to aggravate heat stress, exposing both urban and rural areas to greater local climate variability and negatively affecting human health and safety
The programme will promote integrated approaches to protect biodiversity and ecosystems and mitigating the effects of climate change via green/blue infrastructure, as proposed by the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The Programme shall contribute to the European Green Deal (COM (2019) 640 final. It also feeds into SDG 13 on climate action.

Grants are the selected form of support for this SO. The size of planned operations, and the type of cooperation of target groups beyond national borders, allow for very limited use of support other than grants. In addition, planned operations will not generate significant revenue.