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Faced with the prospect of rising sea levels and increasing drought and precipitation, as well as species loss and higher risk of disease, European countries need to step up their efforts to adapt to the impact of climate change, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
EU climate policy has largely focused on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and convince international partners to sign up to an international deal to address global warming.
Increasingly, however, extreme weather phenomena such as heat waves, floods and forest fires have drawn attention to the need to define strategies and measures to adapt to the effects of global warming that are already occurring.
In June 2007, the Commission published a green paper on adaptation to climate change, which launched a consultation on the issue and proposed a four-pronged approach (see EurActiv LinksDossier). Before the end of 2008, the Commission is expected to publish a white paper on adaptation that will propose a more specific EU strategy to deal with the issue.
LinksDossier: EU climate change adaptation policy
"The implementation of adaptation actions has only just started. We need to intensify such actions," said EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade in a 29 September statement announcing the publication of an EEA report entitled 'Impacts of Europe's changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment'.
The drastic effects of climate change are already evident in many European countries, particularly in the Mediterranean region and in coastal and mountainous areas in central and northern Europe, where deadly heat waves and destructive floods have led to significant loss of human life, particularly among the elderly and most vulnerable segments of the population.
"The 70,000 excess deaths reported from 12 European countries in 2003 could be an example of health impacts to come," warns the Copenhagen-based agency.
Who's in charge?
While the EU-funded EEA points to the Commission's green paper and upcoming white paper on adaptation, it does not indicate whether or not it deems Brussels' efforts on the issue satisfactory. But a centralised or top-down EU effort to adapt to climate change may not be appropriate.
Rather, adaptation efforts should be integrated into sectoral policies across Europe, suggests the EEA, which points to the 'cross-cutting' impacts of climate change on "virtually all economic sectors in Europe". And since floods and other climate change-related occurences do not respect national or regional boundaries, adaptation policy is likely to require transnational coordination among policymakers at various levels of government and administration.
"The transboundary nature of climate change and associated adaptation responses, together with the subsidiarity principle, are important factors to consider when implementing strategies," according to the 246-page report, which provides a detailed analysis of climate impacts on a range of ecosystems and economic sectors.
Footing the bill
The EEA urges swift action to keep adaptation costs from soaring. "With increasing impacts of climate change, adaptation costs will increase and response options may decrease," says the report.
But the precise amounts that will be required remain subject to speculation. A February 2008 study by a leading EU think tank on the economics of climate change adaptation, for example, found that "very little is known about the economic potential for adaptation strategies or the economic costs of adaptation options" (see EurActiv 20/02/08).
More information sharing and better data availability is required to bring some clarity, says the EEA, which recommends "improved monitoring and reporting of climate data and observed impacts, more detailed spatial and socio-economic scenarios; better information on vulnerability; more information on good practices in adaptation actions and their costs and better information exchange mechanisms".
(includes links to report sections)
(2004)
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
France
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Turkey
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