EU urges greater action against ‘Catastrophic’ climate risks in Europe

• Southern Europe is most vulnerable to fires, water shortages, and agricultural impacts.
• The top threats are to ecosystems, particularly coastal and marine environments.
• The EEA calls for unanimous recognition of these risks and faster action.

A new EU analysis issued a warning on Monday, stating that Europe could face “catastrophic” consequences from climate change if it does not promptly and decisively act to adapt to risks. The European Environment Agency (EEA) outlined in its first report on the climate risks facing the continent that areas in southern Europe are most vulnerable. The dangers encompass fires, water shortages, and their impact on agricultural production. In addition, flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion threaten low-lying coastal regions.

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

Recent years have demonstrated that northern Europe is not spared from the negative impact, as floods in Germany and forest fires in Sweden have shown.

“Extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding, as experienced in recent years, will worsen in Europe even under optimistic global warming scenarios and affect living conditions throughout the continent,” the EEA warned.

The report enumerates 36 climate-related risks in Europe, with 21 requiring more immediate action and eight deemed “particularly urgent.”

At the forefront of the list are risks to ecosystems, primarily concerning coastal and marine environments. For example, the report highlights the threat to marine ecosystems posed by a combination of heat waves, acidification, and oxygen depletion of the seas, alongside other human-induced factors like pollution, eutrophication (excessive nutrient levels leading to aquatic ecosystem collapse), and fishing.

“This can result in substantial biodiversity loss, including mass mortality events, and declines in ecosystem services,” it said.

According to the EEA, the priority should be for European governments and populations to unanimously recognize the risks and agree to take more action at a faster pace.

“We need to do more, to have stronger policies,” Yla-Mononen stressed.

Despite the alarm, the agency also acknowledged that member states have made “considerable progress” in understanding the climate risks they face and preparing for them.

“These events are the new normal,” EEA director Leena Yla-Mononen told a press briefing ahead of the report’s release.

“It should be the wake-up call. The final wake-up call,” she added.

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