Check against delivery - Speech by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Mr Alessandro Giuli, [Minister of Culture of Italy]

Mr Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, [Minister of the Environment and Energy Security of Italy]

Ms Aurora Floridia, [Senator of the Italian Republic, PACE]

Ministers,

Deputy Ministers,

Distinguished guests,

Dear friends,

Twenty-five years ago, the Council of Europe opened the European Landscape Convention for signature, here in Florence.

Florence — one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

A city full of architectural and cultural marvels.

A source of inspiration to some of the greatest writers, artists and musicians in history.

And a beacon for tourists.

And so, Florence is rightfully a UNESCO world heritage site, protected for the world for its outstanding universal value.

Very few cities are considered to have “outstanding universal value”.

And not all of us are lucky enough to live surrounded by such beauty as we find here in Florence.

But all landscapes have deep value — and that is the basis of the Council of Europe’s visionary Landscape Convention.

Town or country — forest or farmland — clean or polluted — landscape affects us from the moment we are born.

We are each products of our environment.

But we each have a profound effect on our environment.

And perhaps that is why the Landscape Convention, which is celebrated today, is one of the most ratified of all our international treaties.

Forty-one of our forty-six member states have demonstrated their commitment to planning, managing and protecting the landscapes in which we live and work.

A truly participatory model, inviting community contribution and shared responsibilities, it is democracy in action.

And it must be — citizens must be involved — because our landscapes are so influential in shaping us as individuals and communities.

They shape our memories, our ways of life and how we live each day.

Landscapes shape our past and our present.

But it is we who actually shape the future of the landscapes that surround us — and the future of those who will live in them.

We therefore owe it to ourselves, to our children and grandchildren to ensure that all landscapes are the best they can be, wherever they are and whatever their purpose.

First of all, that they are clean, sustainable, planned and managed.

And that they encourage community and connection.

Because we recognise that human rights and the environment are intertwined, the Council of Europe has adopted a Strategy on the Environment.

The strategy echoes the Reykjavik Summit Declaration, saying “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of human rights by present and future generations.”

The strategy aims to embed human rights considerations into all environment-related policies and regulation, but at the same time —

To ensure that the environment is considered is a fundamental part of human rights.

The Council of Europe’s new Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law is a new important step that will certainly contribute to the strategy, when it opens for signature in December.

The new convention establishes offences relating to a broad range of actions that unlawfully destroy our environment.

We must not forget that environmental damage fundamentally feeds the ultimate crisis facing us all: climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.

And they undermine our security and our future.

The Landscape Convention has been successful in encouraging member states to promote sustainable planning and heritage conservation.

I am delighted that later today, member states will reaffirm their commitment to strengthening cooperation and our shared vision for the conservation of landscapes.

In a dynamic and rapidly changing world, we must work together to integrate landscape protection at every level, across Europe and beyond.

That way, we protect and promote all landscapes — living systems sustaining our health, values and our connection to our communities.

Dear friends,

Today, in Florence, this treasured city, we should  mark our achievements, but also look to the future.

The name Florence has its roots in the Latin “florere” — to blossom.

It is a fitting name for our Convention.

May the European Landscape Convention — the Florence Convention — continue to blossom and thrive.