WRITTEN QUESTION E-3791/97 by Angela Sierra González (GUE/NGL), Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL), Pedro Marset Campos (GUE/NGL) and María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (26 November 1997)

Subject: The implications of climate change for the Canary Islands

The effects of climate change induced by human activity, which will be the subject of the Third Conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change signatory states this December in Kyoto, are indisputable. They include the forecast rise in sea level, caused, inter alia, by the melting of the polar icecaps and the general rise in temperatures due to 'global warming'.

This rise in sea level could have catastrophic consequences for population groups and economic activities in coastal areas, particularly on islands such as the Canaries.

This is attested to by the existence of the 'AOSIS' Association, which brings together the world's small island states, who see their very existence threatened by climate change.

Does the Commission know what effects a rise in sea level as a result of planetary global warming will have on the coasts of island and mainland regions?

Has the Commission carried out any study of the socio-economic and environmental consequences, taking into account the fact that many of the areas which are likely to be affected depend on tourism heavily based on the coast?

Does the Commission think that the consequences for some of these regions might involve changes to coastlines and beaches?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (21 January 1998)

Understanding the mechanisms of climate change and its implications on sea level rise is one of the main objectives of research carried out in the frame of the environment and climate programme 1994-1998 ((OJ L 361, 31.12.1994. )). Currently the Commission is supporting several research projects investigating the causes and impacts of sea level rise. Latest developments of sea level research in Europe have been discussed in a recent workshop 'European sea-level and coastal-zone research', held in Barcelona, 9-12 April 1997. Main results presented indicate a present annual average sea level rise of 1-1.5 millimeters around the European coasts. Due to regional vertical land movements, the relative sea level change is different across Europe, e.g. the Finnish coast lines of the Baltic Sea and parts of the Mediterranean coasts are rising and consequently the local sea level in these areas is falling.

Some studies predict an average rise of sea surface level of the order of 0.4 metre within the next 100 years. In particular, low level coast lines and islands are vulnerable but depend on the local or regional geophysical facts (vertical movements of land) which could oppose or amplify the effects induced by climate change.

For this reason it is not possible to give a definite answer to this question. However, the Community has supported a number of research projects investigating the local or regional impacts of sea level rise in north-western Mediterranean deltas and the eastern Po plane. The specific consequences of sea level rise for the Canary islands have not been studied, since for these regions no proposals were submitted to the environment and climate programme.

Socio-economic issues of sea level rise have been studied in some of the projects. The final reports of these projects are available on request.

Research is being carried out to study the effects of sea level rise on coastlines and beaches in Europe, but not in particular for the Canary islands for reasons stated above.