Europe faces growing climate risks and is not prepared for them, the European Environment Agency warned on Monday in its first-ever risk assessment for the European Union.
The Agency reiterated that Europe is subject to more frequent and more violent extreme weather events ― including an increase in wildfires, droughts, more unusual precipitation and floods ― and must address them immediately to protect its energy, food security, water supply and health.
These climate risks “are increasing faster than our society’s preparedness,” warned Leena Ylä-Mononen, executive director of the EEA, in a statement.
The report identifies thirty-six major climate risks for the continent, such as threats to ecosystems, economies, health and food systems, and finds that more than half of them require immediate action.
It listed eight as needing urgent attention, such as ecosystem conservation; protecting people from heat; protecting people and infrastructure from floods and forest fires; and securing disaster relief funds.
The report said Europe is the fastest warming continent in the world and has warmed twice as fast as other regions since the 1980s. The heat has been associated with more intense rainfall and to flooding, and the report predicts less rainfall and more severe droughts in southern Europe.
Without urgent and decisive action, the report warns that many of the climate risks identified could become catastrophic. To reduce climate risks and improve adaptation to warming, the report recommends that the EU and its member states collaborate with regional and local bodies.
According to Manon Dufour, Brussels director of the climate think tank E3G, this report is “a huge wake-up call” for the continent and could have repercussions for climate policy at both European and national levels.
At the European level, Dufour said the report could “open the eyes” of European leaders who are currently focused on security issues, given that climate can affect economic and energy security.
At the national level, Ms Dufour said finance ministers in particular should be prompted by the report “to make economic and social resilience the main priority”. She stressed that economic losses from heatwaves and floods could reach 1 trillion euros per year by the end of the century.
Sven Harmeling, head of climate at the Climate Action Network Europe, responded that the report shows why it is so important to simultaneously adapt to weather extremes and radically reduce emissions in line with the Paris agreement, which aims to limit the warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Mr Harmeling added that Europe “can do more, even by 2030”, to reduce emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas, and that it can also increase its investments in adaptation to climate change, including preserving ecosystems such as wetlands and forests, which can both absorb carbon and act as natural barriers against extreme weather.
He insisted that any efforts to reduce the impact of warming “must result in social and economic benefits for all.”
Silvia Pastorelli, Greenpeace’s EU climate campaigner, agreed, adding that the European Union should focus its resilience programs, such as retrofitting homes to make it easier to heat in winter and cool in summer. , on the most vulnerable communities. “Equity in the climate response is essential,” Ms Pastorelli said.
The report says the EU and its member states have made “considerable progress” in understanding and preparing for climate risks.
For example, Europe “has performed well when it comes to coastal flooding,” according to Julie Berckmans, EEA climate risk expert. According to her, there has not been a catastrophic storm on the continent for sixty years, and progress has also been made in managing health risks linked to heat and large river floods.
But additional measures are needed in all these areas “because the risks are increasing rapidly,” she said. For example, heat stress among populations has reached critical levels, Berckmans said. One solution, she says, is for countries and cities to improve their land use planning to be better adapted to future heat-related health risks.
The European Commission will present its action plan in response to the report on Tuesday.
Tim McPhie, a spokesperson for the European Commission, admitted that the EEA report “is a very clear warning and a very clear call to action about what lies ahead.”