Each economic sector will have to adapt to climate change, whether it benefits from the positive impact of policies aiming to achieve a low-CO2 economy - such as the renewable energy sector - or whether it directly suffers from climate change - as with the fisheries sector - the paper states. However, some regions and sectors will be particularly affected by climate change - those that depend on agriculture and fisheries, on one hand, and tourism on the other, are the most vulnerable.
Southern regions and the Iberian peninsula will be the most affected European areas because of their dependence on primary activities. The new situation in these regions requires immediate action on the qualification and reconversion of workers, the paper warns.
However, new options depend on the results of social dialogue, according to the study, which could strengthen the positive effect of the necessary changes by identifying opportunities and encouraging vocational transition.
Moreover, the potential positive impact of climate change - such as cooler regions that would become more attractive to tourism or increase the availability of agricultural land at higher latitudes -comes at a price, which is often ignored or under-evaluated.
The authors therefore recommend that policymakers anticipate the social and economic changes inherent to both climate change and policies reducing CO2 emissions.
Employment policies should be integrated into climate-change policies to avoid creating barriers to the economic, technological and societal transformation to a low-carbon society. The proposed measures notably include mechanisms to help workers adjust to structural skills and make economic and social changes easier to predict.
