Europe needs to do more to tackle ‘catastrophic’ climate risks: EU

A new EU analysis warned on Monday that Europe could suffer “catastrophic” consequences from climate change unless it takes urgent and decisive action to adapt to the risks.

Regions of southern Europe are most at risk, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in its first report on the risks facing the continent from climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels.

Hazards include fire, water scarcity, and their impact on agricultural production, and low-lying coastal areas face the threat of flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion.

“Many of these risks have already reached critical levels and could become catastrophic without urgent and decisive action,” the agency said.

That doesn’t mean Northern Europe is immune, as floods in Germany and forest fires in Sweden have proven in recent years.

“Heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods such as those experienced in recent years will worsen in Europe even under optimistic global warming scenarios, impacting living conditions across the continent,” the EEA warned.

“These events are the new normal,” EEA Commissioner Leena Ira Mononen said at a press conference ahead of the report’s release.

“This has to be a wake-up call. A final wake-up call,” she added.

The report identified 36 climate-related risks in Europe, of which 21 required more urgent action and eight were “particularly urgent”.

At the top of the list were risks to ecosystems, primarily related to coastal and marine environments.

heat wave

For example, heatwaves, ocean acidification and oxygen deprivation, anthropogenic factors such as pollution and eutrophication (meaning excess nutrients that disrupt aquatic ecosystems), and even fishing threaten marine ecosystems. the report points out.

“This could lead to significant biodiversity loss, including mass mortality and reduced ecosystem services,” the report said.

EEA climate impact expert Hans-Martin Fussell specifically pointed to the risk of recurrent heatwaves, which could pose direct health risks and threats to ecosystems.

“In Europe it is often combined with drought, and this is a dangerous combination for infrastructure and water supplies,” Füssel told AFP.

The EEA says European governments and citizens should recognize the risks and prioritize doing more and faster to prepare for them.

“More action is needed to achieve stronger policies,” Ira Mononen stressed.

Despite the warning, the agency also acknowledged that “substantial progress” had been made among member states in “understanding and preparing for the climate risks they face.”

“However, implementation of effective action may have been hampered by competing priorities, unclear risk ownership, and insufficient investment funding,” Fussell said.

On Tuesday, the European Commission will publish a report on climate risks within the EU.

“The timing is no coincidence. We certainly worked under considerable pressure to complete our work as an input to their communications,” Fussell said.