Climate risks are increasing faster than the European Union's current public policies are prepared to react, concluded the European Environment Agency's (EEA) first European Climate Risk Assessment, published on March 11. According to this balance, the European continent, which since the 1980s has been warming twice as fast as other regions of the world, is not prepared for the consequences of climate change.
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Forest fires, floods, rising sea levels, droughts… the intensification of these extreme weather events is a consequence of climate change and for EEA scientists it is a fact that due to the already existing global warming, natural disasters in Europe will increase.
Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a risk assessment: measure how widespread and urgent the climate challenges are, know their implications to adapt the continent's public policies as best as possible.
“Many of these risks have already reached critical levels and could become catastrophic if urgent and forceful measures are not taken,” the EEA warned when publishing the first European Climate Risk Assessment.
The current measures to confront climate change are progressive, however they are not up to the risk, they are moving slower than the risk is growing. So “It may be necessary to act urgently even in the face of risks that are not yet critical”says the EEA.
The assessment is an “immense wake-up call” for the continent, Manon Dufour, director of the E3G environmental think tank in Brussels, told AP. She hopes the document will “open the eyes” of European leaders who currently focus their speeches on the issue of security, while climate change affects the economy and the continent's energy and food security.
What do climate risks entail?
Beyond the ecosystemsclimate change poses a risk to the feedingthe healththe economy and the infrastructure European. The EEA identified 36 main risks that it divided into these five categories. Considering current policies to mitigate those risks, it concluded that more than half require additional measures and eight need an urgent response.
In a pessimistic scenario, the EEA estimates that by the end of the century “hundreds of thousands of people would die from heat waves, and economic losses from coastal flooding alone could exceed one trillion euros annually.” A loss greater than what it is estimated that the European Union lost between 1980 and 2022 due to the set of extreme climate events, 650,000 million euros.
Not all European regions are vulnerable to the same level: the south faces a higher risk of forest fires and water shortages.
What challenges does the continent face?
From a food point of view, heat waves and prolonged droughts put crops and drinking water supplies at risk. These climate risks also have health implications: extreme heat will particularly affect outdoor workers, older people and those without adapted housing.
The EEA points out that the solutions to these public health risks go beyond traditional health policies. They include, for example, better urban planning, respectful of ecosystems and vegetation (in addition to creating shade, trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main gas responsible for climate warming).
If we move on to consider infrastructure, the climate risk of flooding in urban areas affects electrical installations, pipes and transportation services.
The set of these climate risks and potential natural disasters has an effect on the economy. “Finance ministers have an essential role” in assessing the costs and benefits of climate change adaptation policies, Kate Levick, deputy director of E3G, told Reuters.
The evaluation recognizes the progress of the European Union in understanding climate risks, now the EEA urges a coordinated response.
To ensure the resilience of our societies, European and national policymakers must act now, said EEA Executive Director Leena Ylä-Mononen.
The European Commission is expected to respond to the report on Tuesday. Commission spokesperson Tim McPhie said the evaluation “has sent out a very clear warning and a very clear call to action for what is to come.”
With AP and Reuters
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