The European debate has long been focussing on one side of climate policy, namely the reduction of greenhouse gases. The EU Commission recently published the 2040 climate target, which envisages a 90 per cent reduction in emissions compared to the baseline year 1990 in order to put the EU on the path to net zero emissions by 2050.

In contrast, the first European climate risk assessment by the European Environment Agency (EEA), focusses on the other side of climate policy: adaptation. Even with optimistic emission reduction scenarios, Europe will be increasingly exposed to climate disasters. The reduction of greenhouse gases remains the most important means for minimising the devastating consequences of climate change overall. Nevertheless, measures to adapt to climate change are inevitable. The revised strategy for adapting to climate change has also just been presented to the public in Austria.

Climate risks pose a systemic threat
The EEA report begins with the worrying news that the global average temperature from February 2023 to January 2024 was 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This means that the lower limit of the Paris Climate Agreement has already been exceeded, while the world is heading towards a warming of 3°C by the end of the century. Europe has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s and is the continent where warming is progressing the fastest, according to the report.

The EEA evaluated a total of 36 different climate risks such as heat stress and threats from wildfires and came to the conclusion that an urgent need for action exists for the majority of them. The effects of climate change exacerbate existing crises and create systemic challenges in many areas that are fundamental to society, such as ecosystems, food, health, infrastructure and the economy. Social inequality, for example, means that economically disadvantaged people are more exposed to climate risks from heatwaves or flooding. However, the consequences are not only unevenly distributed socially, but also geographically. Regionally, southern Europe, low-lying coastal areas and remote EU regions are particularly vulnerable. In economic terms, the Alpine region, which is often heavily dependent on sectors such as tourism and forestry, is also affected. 

The report concludes that the adaptation measures currently implemented do not adequately counter the effects of climate change. If immediate action is not taken, hundreds of thousands of people could die as a result of heatwaves and by the end of the century, floods on Europe's coasts alone could cause economic losses of over one trillion euros per year.

A message for the future
With the legislative period drawing to a close, the demands of the EEA report come at a critical time. Although the EU Commission already presented an Adaptation Strategy in 2021, the new report has once again increased the pressure to act. However, as the urgently needed measures can only be initiated after the elections, the EU Commission has presented the basic direction for the remaining and upcoming legislative period with a Communication on Managing climate risks in Europe -  protecting people and prosperity.

Firstly, the EU Commission is calling on the Member States to guarantee greater cooperation between national, regional and local authorities. The appointment of "risk bearers" is intended to ensure a better understanding of the different ways in which they are affected. In order to strengthen the ability to act, the first step is to identify the so-called "risk owners", i.e. those responsible for managing the risk appropriately. The implementation of adaptation measures should be promoted in the national energy and climate plans.

Secondly, better tools and data should make the links between investments and climate risks easier to understand and ensure that risk owners are better able to fulfil their tasks. To this end, the European Commission will also promote the use of monitoring, forecasting and warning systems, such as the Galileo satellite warning system, which is due to be available in 2025.

Thirdly, the maintenance of critical infrastructure, better spatial planning and the integration of EU solidarity mechanisms should contribute to adaptation. These include the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the Solidarity Fund and structural investments under the Cohesion.

Finally, the EU Commission wants to create the conditions for investment in climate adaptation by including climate change adaptation considerations in EU programmes. Furthermore, the EU Commission supports the mainstreaming of climate risks in national budget plans. Member states should also take greater account of climate risks as part of environmental criteria in public procurement tenders.  Against the backdrop of impending cuts in the environmental and social sectors due to the widely criticised new economic governance, this commitment appears to represent an enormous challenge.

Adapting to climate change in the workplace
Both the EEA report and the ETUC Guide on Adaptation to Climate Change show that it is the health and safety of workers that are directly threatened by the consequences of climate risks, not least in the area of professional fire brigades.

One successful example of protecting workers is AK's "Hitze.App" (heat.app), which sends construction workers a real-time heat alert on their mobile phones as soon as the temperature reaches 32.5°C in the shade at the construction site; employers should therefore give their workers the rest of the day off. In future, once temperatures have reached  30°C, taking a break from the heat should become a legal right for workers. In its alliance "Menschen und Klima schützen statt Profite" (Protecting people and the climate instead of profits) together with System Change not Climate Change, Fridays for Future Austria and the Industrial Union of Construction and Wood, the Vienna Chamber of Labour is calling for this right to be introduced.

From AK’s point of view, it must be ensured that workers and their representatives are fully involved in the development of adaptation measures.

Further information:
ETUC: Adaptation to Climate Change and the world of work - A Guide for Trade Unions
AK EUROPA: 2040 Climate Target
AK Vienna: Klimagerechtigkeit im öffentlichen Raum (Climate justice in public spaces (Study)  (German only)
EEA Report: First European climate risk assessment
EU Commission: Communication on managing climate risks in Europe