Europe must tackle "double challenge" of climate change

Climate change poses a double challenge: Europe must not only make deep cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions but also take measures to adapt to current and future climate change in order to lessen the adverse impacts of global warming on people, the economy and the environment.

This is the key message of a Green Paper published by the European Commission which sets out options for EU action to help the process of adaptation to climate change across Europe. The Green Paper aims to stimulate a broad public debate on adaptation in Europe, starting with a major stakeholder conference hosted by the Commission on 3 July in Brussels.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "People all over Europe will increasingly feel the threatening effects of climate change on their health, jobs and housing, and the most vulnerable members of society will be the hardest hit. We need to fight the battle against climate change on two fronts. We must sharply reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to prevent future climate change from reaching dangerous levels, but at the same time Europe must also adapt to the climate change that is already happening."

He added: ""Unless the EU and its member states plan a coherent policy response in advance, we could be forced into taking sudden, unplanned adaptation measures to react to increasingly frequent crises and disasters. This would prove far more costly."."

The European Union's objective is to limit global warming to no more than 2°C above the pre-industrial level, since beyond that threshold the risks of irreversible and possibly catastrophic planetary changes greatly increase.

Early action to adapt to climate change could bring clear economic benefits and avoid social disruption by anticipating potential damage and minimising threats to ecosystems, human health, property and infrastructure. Adaptation could also create new economic opportunities, such as new markets for innovative products and services.

The Green Paper sets out four lines of priority actions to be considered:

Early action to develop adaptation strategies in areas where current knowledge is sufficient;

Integrating global adaptation needs into the EU's external relations and building a new alliance with partners around the world;

Filling knowledge gaps on adaptation through EU-level research and exchange of information;

Setting up a European advisory group on adaptation to climate change to analyse coordinated strategies and actions.