The European Environmental Agency found Europe unprepared for climate change risks such as floods and heatwaves.
BRUSSELS — Preparing the European Union for the dangers of a warming planet is no longer a priority for the bloc’s leaders, according to documents seen by POLITICO.
Europe is already experiencing the effects of climate change — with droughts, floods, wildfires and heat waves becoming more frequent and more severe. In the spring, the European Environment Agency issued a damning verdict of the Continent’s preparedness for the risks of climate change.
“If decisive action is not taken now, most climate risks identified [in the assessment] could reach critical or catastrophic levels by the end of this century,” the agency said, adding that hundreds of thousands of people could die from heat waves.
But a call to “prepare for the new realities stemming from climate change” has disappeared from EU leaders’ policy priority list for the next five years.
While the line appeared in pre-election versions of the Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029 — effectively, EU governments’ wish list for what they want the European Commission to focus on in its next term — it has been erased from the latest drafts seen by POLITICO, including one dated June 21.
EU leaders are expected to adopt the agenda at this week’s European Council summit in Brussels.
In their election manifestos, parties across the political spectrum — from the center-right European People’s Party to the Greens — called on the EU to prepare for global warming. Even parties from the hard and far right, who tend to be skeptical of climate action, are usually on board with efforts to adapt to a warmer world.
Teresa Ribera, Spain’s ecological transition minister and a favorite for a climate-focused job in the next Commission, told POLITICO in May that coping with climate change would be one of her top priorities if she were to take a green policy post in the EU executive.
“We need to be as clear, ambitious and consistent [as were are on cutting emissions] when talking about adaptation,” she said. “I don’t see yet a clear and consistent approach to climate adaptation policies.”
Ribera’s office declined to comment on the draft agenda.
Diplomats and spokespeople for national governments contacted by POLITICO largely declined to comment on the changes.
One EU diplomat said the previous line on preparing for the consequences of global warming had been replaced with references throughout the text, notably a broad call to “strengthen [the EU’s] resilience, preparedness, crisis prevention and response capacities … to protect our citizens and societies against different crises, including natural disasters and health emergencies.”
Another line in the June 21 draft reads: “Our natural environment is facing increasing damage and disruption due to climate change and biodiversity loss. The fast development of new technologies brings opportunities and potential risks.”
Adapting to global warming will require Europe not only to step up disaster preparedness, but also better manage its water resources, restructure vital economic sectors like tourism and agriculture, cool down its cities and reinforce its coastlines against sea-level rise and storm surges.
Countries will need to tweak welfare systems and labor laws to protect vulnerable groups like outdoor workers or the elderly, update building codes to ensure homes can’t overheat, work with the insurance industry to spread financial risk — and figure out how to pay for it all.
Karl Mathiesen, Aitor Hernández-Morales and Barbara Moens contributed reporting.
A UN climate conference in Bonn ground to an irritated halt as everyone waits on the US election.
EPP’s Weber vows to push to scrap combustion engine ban in talks in coming days.
‘Under no circumstances’ will satirist Nico Semsrott return for a second term in the EU Parliament.
Whether voters realize it or not, the EU’s goal to end global warming contributions by 2050 is on the ballot.