Debate: EU climate risk assessment, taking urgent action to improve security and resilience in Europe
Date: TUESDAY, 12 MARCH 2024
Speaker: Wopke Hoekstra
Language: EN

The science is crystal clear; the first ever European Climate Risk Assessment Report, published yesterday, confirms this once more. Climate impacts will continue to get worse before they get better. It is inevitable and it might actually feel overwhelming, as climate impacts are inevitable. But if there is a bit of a silver lining, it is probably that we can and do and should do more in terms of managing it. That is precisely what we are setting out today in this piece of communication. We’re showing how the European Union and its Member States can better manage the growing climate risks that are claiming more and more lives and are challenging our prosperity and economic competitiveness all over Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, what we’re doing today is, if you will, a direction of travel. For the first time, we are presenting an overview of what we view as potential and possible solutions, and we already have many of the instruments available to ensure we become more climate resilient. Even in the best-case scenario, we need to prepare for a temperature rise in Europe of at least three degrees, even if we manage to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees globally. Here’s the good news though – we do have the tools to reduce the damage caused by climate impact. The first tool, and the tool we most talk about, is mitigation, reducing our emissions. Today’s communication is about the other side of the equation; it is about the less discussed part of climate action, which is adaptation. What we’re talking about here is building climate—resilient societies and economies. It seeks to make sure that the European Union and its Member States can maintain people’s livelihoods and businesses’ competitiveness. I’m absolutely convinced we can do this if we work together. It is therefore essential to have clarity on who owns the risks so that we can act effectively, because in this way we can better prepare at EU, national, regional and local levels. With the strong data that we have – and I am sure we will further improve these data in the years to come – we can effectively help our Member States, we can help regional authorities and local communities to plan better. This communication is very much about knowledge. It is about insight; it is about analysis and putting this into practice. Take, for example, the Galileo satellites. In 2025, we will deploy the Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service. This will enable us to allow alerts messages to reach directly the populations of areas threatened by disaster. Interestingly enough, this will even be the case when no network is available. Ladies and gentlemen, climate risks impact all sectors,- from natural ecosystems, water and food to health, the economy and clearly also infrastructure. Everything and everyone are affected by climate change, and what we need to do is limit the cost of damages and basically invest smartly. It is better to anticipate risks than to keep responding to disasters. Just to give you a few numbers, the total economic damage of the 2021 floods in Belgium and Germany alone was roughly around EUR 44 billion, and the damage in Slovenia following the floods last year – and we have just recalibrated the number – amounted to 16 % of GDP. And if you find it difficult to calibrate these numbers, let me assure you that this is truly huge. Therefore, the risks should not be underestimated in public budgets. Citizens, businesses, we all gain from building resilience to a changing climate. Of course, this requires public and private investment to manage climate risks. For that, we do need to make sure we explore how to better mobilise the finances available. Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve talked about Europe because that is the continent that the report and our communication focus on. It is a continent, which – as I’ve said before, and this is very worrying – warms faster than any other place across the globe, but climate resilience doesn’t stop at our borders. We’re getting many questions from our friends from abroad, and I want to assure you that we will continue our conversations with our partners to make sure we exchange experiences and seek to help out in every way we can, including on our own continent. Global action to address climate resilience in parallel with reducing emissions is simply vital for future prosperity. Honourable Members, 2023 was once again the hottest year on record. This is a first call, but there will be more in the coming years, and more work needs to be done on resilience at a European, national, regional and local level. We can get prepared. Managing climate risks need to be stepped up and we need to do it right now. It is a duty for all of us simply to make sure that our people and our businesses of today, but also future generations, can prosper in a changing climate.