The environmental situation in Europe is deteriorating rapidly, affecting security and the economy and has already led to a loss of 162 billion euros between 2021 and 2023, a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) states.
„Europe is the continent with the fastest rate of global warming in the world and Europe's climate is changing at an alarming rate, threatening security, public health, ecosystems, infrastructure and the economy.“ “Extreme weather and climate events caused economic losses in the European Union of approximately €738 billion from 1980 to 2023, with over €162 billion lost from 2021 to 2023 alone“, the report states.
The authors of the study also note that losses for the period 2020 to 2023 are 2.5 times higher than for the entire previous decade. For example, in Slovenia, floods in 2023 led to a 16% drop in GDP. According to the European Central Bank, 72% of European producers of goods and services depend on the use of natural resources. The “Financial Times“ quotes the EEA Executive Director as saying that climate change poses a serious threat to “competitiveness, prosperity, security and quality of life in Europe“. According to the report, biodiversity is declining in Europe's terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to production and consumption. Up to 70% of soils are degraded and 62% of the continent's water bodies are in poor ecological status. In addition, according to the report, most of the EU's climate change mitigation targets by 2030 will not be achieved.
The researchers believe that a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years is needed to stabilize the global environmental situation. They note that by 2100 the balance between greenhouse gas emissions and their absorption by the atmosphere should be zero. It was previously reported that the average observed global warming for the period 2014-2023 was 1.19 degrees Celsius, caused by human activity. The rate of warming acceleration over the past decade is unprecedented, reaching 0.26 degrees Celsius from 2014 to 2023. Scientists point to the continued high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and the reduction in aerosol cooling as reasons for this.