Climate change is no longer an abstract concept, but one that is costing Europe and the world in both human and economic terms. Writing that climate change could cost the world trillions every year within a few decades, Annika Ahtonen argues for more policies from Europe geared towards helping member states and regions adapt to climate change, rather than the current approach of simply paying for losses

Ahtonen, Annika

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blo gs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/10/22/europe-climate-change-adaptation/Cre d it: Grant MacDo nald  (Cre ative  Co mmo ns BY NC)Instead of simply paying for losses, Europe should institutecost-effective adaptation measures to meet the challengesposed by climate change.by Blog AdminClimate change is no longer an abstract concept, but one that is costing Europe and the worldin both human and economic terms. Writing that climate change could cost the world trillionsevery year within a few decades, Annika Ahtonen  argues for more policies from Europegeared towards helping member states and regions adapt to climate change, rather than thecurrent approach of simply paying for losses.The climate is changing – and this is af f ecting Europe. The global average temperature hasrisen by 0.74 degrees Celsius since pre- industrial t imes and at an increasing speed in thelast 50 years. The impacts of  higher temperatures are f elt in Europe in longer and more intense heatwaves, melting of  ice, rising sea levels, more drought, more f requent heavy precipitation events, rain orsnow, and in some places longer growing seasons. Events such as f loods, storms and f orest f ires inEurope cause signif icant problems that range f rom inf rastructure damage to health problems.Increased warming also means increased losses. Worldwide economic losses f rom weather and climaterelated disasters have increased f rom a f ew billion USD in 1980 to over 200 billion in 2005. It is estimatedthat by 2100, extreme weather conditions could cost the world 20 trillion USD every year. While developingcountries lose more in terms of  human lives and the economic costs are higher if  expressed as aproportion of  gross domestic product (GDP), economic losses caused by disasters are greater indeveloped countries. For example, in the United States, 14 extreme weather events in 2011 each causedlosses in excess of  one billion USD. At the same time it should be noted that these estimations provide justa part of  the picture: while looking at direct damage to assets, they ignore impacts such as loss of  humanlif e, cultural heritage and ecosystem services, which are dif f icult to value.While the EU recognises the importance ofmitigating climate change and has worked toprevent f uture increases in global temperatureby limiting CO2 emissions, the main cause ofclimate change, unf ortunately this is no longerenough. Even the best mitigation ef f orts willnot stop the extreme weather events that arealready happening today. Also given the longtime-lag between mitigation measures andtheir ef f ect on the climate, it is becoming evermore obvious that ef f orts to reducegreenhouse-gas emissions must be coupledwith adaptation to a warming world.So f ar, Europe’s approach has been to pay f orthe losses. However, this is expensive andshortsighted. These costs could be avoidedby assessing and addressing climate risks andmeeting these challenges with cost-ef f ectiveadaptation measures. There are a wide range of  possible measures f or both observed and anticipatedrisks: altering f arming practices and crop varieties, avoiding building in risky areas, developing early-warningsystems, building dykes against f loods or building water reservoirs, enhancing water ef f iciency, and trainingprof essionals to operate in and manage changing circumstances.The cost of  adaptation will naturally depend on the country, region and sector, but also on the ability ofpublic and private actors to evaluate the real needs and to promote innovative solutions that can bringbenef its f or society as a whole. While signif icant investments in inf rastructure and technologies will beneeded, it should not be f orgotten that low-cost adaptation options also exist, f or example related tobehaviour, such as using water more ef f iciently, planning land use more ef f ectively or improving one’sphysical well-being. The best adaptation measures are not just about adaptation but also create multiplebenef its f or society.The estimations f or adaptation costs have serious limitations. For example, according to one UnitedNations study, the total f unding required f or adaptation by 2030 could amount to 49–171 billion USD perannum globally. This ref lects the dif f iculty in providing exact f igures. Also there is a tendency to f ocus onlyon costly structural measures, such as improving inf rastructures, thus undermining less costly optionssuch as those mentioned above. To understand the real costs and benef its related to adaptationmeasures, it is important that calculations value also the possible short, medium and long-term economic,social and environmental impacts of  each adaptation measure.While it is a responsibility of  member states and regions to carry out necessary adaptation measures, theEU can play an important role in supporting their ef f orts. The EU has several policies, programmes andf inancial instruments at its disposal, which could provide an important basis f or adaptation across Europe.These include the LIFE+ programme that provides a platf orm f or exchange of  best practice among memberstates and can also support climate-change adaptation f inancially, programmes f or research andinnovation, the EU’s disaster prevention f ramework as well as the f unds under the EU’s cohesion policy.The EU budget f or 2014-2020 could play an important role in addressing the climate challenge, and itshould ref lect the polit ical priority given to climate action under the Europe 2020 Strategy – unf ortunately,however, the current state of  negotiations does not promise much.It should be emphasised that the EU should not aim to spend ‘X’ amount of  money on adaptation, but toencourage the development and implementation of  smart and cost-ef f ective adaptation strategies,products and services. While the EU can support member states’ adaptation ef f orts f inancially, inaccordance with the priorit ies set in the Europe 2020 Strategy, its action should also promote smart andsustainable growth. Direct investments in building roads, dykes and buildings will undoubtedly be needed.However, more should be done to use the f inancial instruments to support innovation and new approachesto adaptation, which hold the potential to develop into a source of  welf are and growth, and into newproducts and services that could be deployed also outside the EU. Moreover, f inancing of  adaptationprojects must be accompanied by clear criteria. In order to avoid maladaptation and unnecessaryinvestments, all projects should be supported by region or sector-specif ic assessments that evaluate thepotential consequences of  climate-change scenarios and necessary actions.The European Commission is currently working on an EU Adaptation Strategy, expected to be adopted inthe spring of  2013. It should build a f ramework f or action, which includes strengthening the knowledge-base and capacities to act, helping to communicate and raise awareness about adaptation, mainstreamingmitigation and adaptation across EU policies, developing clear guidelines and criteria f or f inancingadaptation projects, creating a market place f or adaptation and encouraging innovation, sharing the burdenand taking into account society’s most vulnerable and setting a long-term vision f or tackling climatechallenge.This article is based on the European Policy Centre Paper, The climate is changing – is Europe ready?Building a common approach to adaptation.Please read our comments policy before commenting.Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics andPolicy, nor of the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit .ly/Us0Jcj _________________________________About the authorAnnika Ahtonen – European Policy CentreAnnika Ahtonen is a Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre in the Europe’s Polit icalEconomy Programme. She specialises in the EU’s health, energy and environmental policies,and regularly writes and speaks on these topics. She coordinates the EPC’s health activit iesunder the Coalit ion f or Health, Ethics and Society (CHES). She has also been stronglyinvolved in the work of  the EPC’s Task Forces on Climate Change Adaptation and Eco-Ef f iciency, and coordinates EPC activit ies on resource ef f iciency and eco- innovation,energy, climate change and environmental issues.

Instead of simply paying for losses, Europe should institutecost-effective adaptation measures to meet the challengesposed by climate change.

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