Climate change impacts, risks and adaptation - European Environment Agency

Climate change impacts, risks and adaptation

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Climate change is already impacting Europeans’ daily lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Europe is expected to get warmer, some regions getting drier, while others wetter. These changes will not only impact our health but also the ecosystems we depend on. The EU is preparing to live with a changing climate through various adaptation measures.

Climate change is happening now — and even if we effectively reduce global emissions, it will continue to impact our lives. Flooding, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-related hazards are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent. These hazards carry significant health and economic impacts. While all Europeans are affected by climate change, some communities and regions are more vulnerable.

Extreme weather events like storms, heatwaves and flooding accounted for 85,000 to 145,000 human fatalities across Europe, over the past 40 years. Over 85% of those fatalities were due to heatwaves . Economic losses from weather and climate-related extremes in Europe reached around half a trillion euros over the same period .

Less than a third of non-human losses were covered by insurance. Closing the climate protection gap by increasing insurance coverage can help increase societies’ ability to recover from disasters, reduce vulnerability, and promote resilience.

Building infrastructure that is resistant to hazards and using nature-based solutions like floodplains are examples of adaptation measures. Climate change adaptation measures are critical to increase our resilience and reduce disaster risks for all people in the EU.

Climate change is impacting Europe's environment and people in many ways. Extreme weather events like heatwaves, storm surges, droughts, and floods have the most significant effects.

Across the EU, climate change adaptation measures are being taken to decrease specific risks and impacts. In February 2021, the European Commission adopted the EU Adaptation Strategy. The Strategy outlines a long-term vision for the EU to become climate-resilient by 2050. All EU Member States have also adopted adaptation strategies and/or plans specific to their country’s needs and risks.

Examples of adaptation projects include:

Climate adaptation methods like these will make Europe more resilient to the impacts of climate change. By climate-proofing our infrastructure and enhancing nature-based solutions, we can be prepared for today's and tomorrow’s climate change risks and impacts.

Climate risk assessments that take account of threats like heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires are increasingly being used to inform and improve national adaptation policies.

Heatwaves, droughts, floods and increasing wildfires were the top extreme weather events reported by national authorities in 2023. Many countries also reported that they expected an increase of frequency and intensity of these events.

While climate change impacts are felt throughout the EU, the impacts felt in different regions will vary. Our assessment also shows that some regions are more vulnerable:

The most vulnerable in the EU are most likely to be exposed to climate change-related environmental health impacts.

Climate change is already significantly impacting plant and animal species, as well as where they can survive and thrive.

Some species are expected to move northward several hundred kilometres, or toward higher elevations, while others will become extinct. A landscape fragmented by transport infrastructure might hamper their ability to move and adapt.

Climate change is also likely to exacerbate the problem of invasive species in Europe. As climatic conditions change, some locations may become more favourable to non-native species, which then begin to thrive and negatively impact their new environments by outcompeting native species, altering habitats, and contributing to biodiversity loss.

Climate change also affects the interaction of species that depend on each other for food or other reasons.