Europe must boost climate adaptation
efforts
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).
"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".
Information from Euraktiv (Link).