Annual losses in the EU's agricultural sector due to climate change could reach €40 billion by 2050, according to the Financial Times (FT), citing a report by insurance company Howden prepared for the European Investment Bank.
Under the current scenario, according to researchers, losses would increase from the current approximately €28 billion to over €40 billion, and in extreme situations could even exceed €90 billion.
Extremely hot weather, especially in Western Europe, and the accompanying droughts are already forcing European farmers to change their methods and working hours, according to the publication. The changing climate is forcing them to switch to night harvesting, cover fields with shade nets, cool barns and even abandon decades-old sowing schedules.
But even these measures are not saving farmers from serious losses. According to the French Ministry of Agriculture, grain corn production is expected to fall by 35% compared to last year, to 9 million tons, as heat and drought have negatively affected the growing season.
According to Coldiretti, Italy’s largest farmers’ union, milk production has fallen by 20% on some farms. In the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius led to mass deaths of pigs and poultry in late June, despite increased ventilation, water spraying and changes in feeding methods.