Europe, it seems, may be more vulnerable to climate change than some people think.
According to a report issued Monday by the European Environment Agency, the World Health Organization and the European Commission, Europe has warmed more than the global average. The report also includes new projections that suggest European seas are set to rise more than previous estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
But perhaps more significant than the climate science is the prescription for action in the report.
European Union policy makers for the past decade have emphasized the need to implement a regulatory regime to put a global cap on emissions and to enable wealthy countries to finance ways of cutting carbon in the developing world. The report says working toward a new global climate deal remains important.
But interestingly, it also says the priority should be advancing technological solutions, creating incentives for populations across the globe to preserve their forests, and making the most vulnerable populations more resilient to heat waves and flooding.
(…) “What is now needed is a massive scale-up in renewable energy technology development and transfer, investment in energy and resource efficiency, adaptation actions and efforts to reduce deforestation, increase the resilience of ecosystems and reduce effects on human health,” the report says.
If you want to read the executive summary, you can download it from here.
