Climate change evident across Europe, says report

The effects of climate change are already evident in Europe and the situation is set to get worse, the European Environment Agency has warned. In a report, the agency says the past decade in Europe has been the warmest on record.

It adds that the cost of damage caused by extreme weather events is rising, and the continent is set to become more vulnerable in the future.

The findings have been published ahead of next week's UN climate conference.

They join a UN Environment Programme report also released on Wednesday showing dangerous growth in the "emissions gap" - the difference between current carbon emission levels and those needed to avert climate change.
On Monday, the World Bank published a report that warned that the world was "on track to a 4C [increase by the end of the century] marked by extreme heatwaves and life-threatening sea-level rise".

It added that the world's poorest regions would be hardest hit by the warming, which was "likely to undermine efforts and goals".

"A 4C warmer world can, and must be, avoided - we need to hold warming below 2C," said World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim.

"Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today."

However, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) warned that it was still possible to achieve the 2C target but time was running out.

Data in the Emissions Gap Report showed that annual greenhouse gas emissions were now "14% above where they need to be in 2020".

Unep executive director Achim Steiner said: "While governments work to negotiate a new international climate agreement to come into effect in 2020, they urgently need to put their foot firmly on the action pedal by fulfilling financial, technology transfer and other commitments under the UN climate convention treaties."

The reports have been published ahead of the annual two-week UN climate conference, which starts on Monday in Doha, Qatar.

Anna van Densky

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