The European Union must adapt now to global warming by targeting subsidies for affected farmers and preparing to relocate some ports and coastal settlements, a draft EU report says.
The paper, drawn up by the European Commission and obtained by Reuters, lays out a series of strategies to deal with rising temperatures even as the 27-nation bloc tries to halt the climate trend by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
"A certain degree of climate change will be inevitable, even if global mitigation efforts over the next decades would prove successful," the report says. "Adaptation is an unavoidable complement to mitigation."
The draft, due to be published next month, says concrete EU action could include low-cost "soft" options such as changing crop rotations and sowing dates, as well as insulating houses against heat waves.
But it also lists costly "hard" options that could involve "increasing the height of dykes, relocating ports, industry and entire cities and villages from low-lying coastal areas and flood plains, and building new power plants because of failing hydropower stations."
It said climate change should be integrated into the bloc's agriculture subsidies programme, dubbed the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which, at about 44 billion euros ($59.4 billion), accounts for nearly half of the EU's overall annual budget.
"The CAP income support should help to alleviate the impact of climate change on income fluctuations, which will become increasingly higher," it said. "During future reviews and reforms of the CAP ways should be found of using existing support to help European agriculture and rural development take the necessary adaptation measures."
It said climate change will require changes in land use, production methods, and farm structures. EU funds should rise for areas that are most affected by higher temperatures, it said. "A significant increase in rural development expenditure associated with climate change should also be promoted especially in vulnerable areas."
Investments in infrastructure such as bridges, ports and motorways should also take into account how climate conditions will change by the end of the century, it said.
In March EU leaders pledged to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, and Germany is seeking to broker a wider agreement with major industrial powers at a Group of Eight meeting in June. The report emphasises that cutting emissions is key because adjusting to climate change can only go so far.
"Adaptation will never be an alternative to reducing greenhouse gas emissions because there are limits to adaptation, and once certain thresholds are crossed, large-scale dislocation of populations could eventually become the only option."
Comments
Comments are closed.