Europe unprepared for ‘catastrophic’ risks of climate crisis, major study warns

Europe’s economic losses from coastal floods alone could rise to €1 trillion

A woman fans herself in Madrid, Spain during heatwave in July 2023. Europe is the fastest heating continent (AP)

The European Union Environment Agency (EEA) has issued a stark warning, urging countries in the bloc to prepare for the “catastrophic” impacts caused by the climate crisis.

Its first Europe-wide analysis of climate-related risks was released on Monday, calling for policymakers to develop more urgent plans in the face of the escalating nature of the risks facing the continent.

Europe is heating up faster than any other continent globally, doubling the average global rate, the EEA said. It also warned that the economic losses from coastal floods alone every year could rise to almost double the existing cost of all extreme weather events in the past four decades.

The report identifies 36 major climate risks that are threatening the continent, including energy and food security, ecosystems, infrastructure, water resources, financial stability, and people’s health.

It says many of these risks have “already reached critical levels and could become catastrophic without urgent and decisive action”.

Even if efforts are made to slow down this warming trend, global temperatures are already over 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial times.

In a pessimistic scenario, the EEA painted a grim picture for the end of the century, warning that "hundreds of thousands of people would die from heatwaves, and economic losses from coastal floods alone could exceed €1 trillion per year."

This projection far surpasses the €650bn lost to weather and climate-related extremes across the European bloc from 1980 to 2022.

Leena Ylä-Mononen, the EEA’s executive director, said the risks facing Europe “are growing faster than our societal preparedness”.

“To ensure the resilience of our societies, European and national policymakers must act now to reduce climate risks both by rapid emission cuts and by strong adaptation policies and actions,” she said.

Kate Levick, associate director at climate think-tank E3G, told the Associated Press: “There’s a particular role for finance ministers to essentially look at what happens to balance sheets, in terms of assets and liabilities at the national level, as a result of climate risk.”

The agency called policymakers to act now to prepare European societies for the impacts, including improving insurance coverage, redesigning infrastructure, and implementing laws to protect outdoor workers from deadly heat.

The European Commission is set to publish its response to the EEA's report on Tuesday.