Climate change has already led to various impacts on the environment, the economy, and society. These impacts have been felt both in Europe and across the world. Last year, Europe reached the highest temperature record for both August and summer (June – August) by substantial margins of 0.8°C over 2018 for August and 0.4°C over 2021 for summer.
Climate technology plays a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Climate Change in Europe 2022
Observed climate change has already led to a wide range of impacts on Europe’s environmental systems, economic sectors, and human health and well-being. Last summer, climate change heatwaves in Europe became frequent and rapidly spread across the continent. Southern Europe countries including Spain, Greece and France were blazed by wildfires, with hundreds of deaths caused by soaring temperatures that scientists say are related to climate change.
Climate Change is posing threats to European businesses. The Agriculture and Aquaculture sectors are heavily affected by extreme weather events.
Croatian Fisheries are facing challenges in the aftermath of climate hazards, influencing the abundance and distribution of fisheries resources and the suitability of some geographical locations for aquaculture systems. Marija Vučković, the Croatian Minister of Agriculture, stated that some of Croatia’s main concerns today are increased variability in levels of precipitation and changes in air and water temperatures that will affect the productivity of rivers, lakes and floodplains.
Climate Change in Tourism
Europe is the world’s leading tourist destination. The tourism industry is a vital part of the EU’s economy and accounts for 10% of its GDP, which is why the EU is committed to reviving this sector. Tourism is also highly dependent on the climatic conditions of a given destination. After more than two years of putting off people’s vacations, travellers are reluctant to cancel their trips, even in the face of headline-making weather.
How are European governments coping with climate change?
In Europe, scientists and analysts are urging swift, radical action on climate change, pointing to extreme weather the last 2 years – severe floods, fires, and more frequent hurricanes. On a regional scale, ‘normalising’ climate change adaptation is taking place within various EU policies, such as freshwater and coastal management, biodiversity and nature protection, and disaster-risk reduction. On the national level — and at the city and suburbs levels — implementing adaptation is still at an early stage. Most European countries report that the extent of public awareness regarding the need for adaptation has increased during the past five years and that adaptation has reached the national political agenda.
Collective action from the government, private sectors, and down to the citizens is key to addressing climate change and reaching the Paris Agreement’s goals.
The EU has always been very active in numerous talks and innovations to fight climate change, as demonstrated by the launch of the European Green Deal in 2019 which gave new impetus to climate change policy and action at the EU level. Alongside its member states, the EU is the largest provider of climate financing in the world. The European Union strongly advocates for climate ambition both in international fora and in its bilateral relations with non-EU countries.
How climate fintech can help European countries adapt to climate change
In Europe, which has set strict environmental goals, climate-tech start-ups are innovating at an accelerated pace to enable us to reduce our impact on the world around us.
Climate Fintech is the integration of fintech with the primary goal of decabonising the planet.
These technological innovations and platforms serve as vital financial mediators between all stakeholders aiming for decarbonisation. Climate Fintech aims to reduce an array of GHG emissions through ways consumers decide, spend, save, and invest. These tools help customers make a more conscious decision that can reduce the impeding warming of the globe. With this in mind, climate tech can also help businesses to meet the changing and climate-oriented demands of customers.
Applied technologies such as Artificial Intelligence makes data processing, analysis, and availability much faster, transparent, accurate, and cost-effective. Climate Fintech can help asset managers to build green portfolios for clients, allows insurance companies better analyse weather perils, and give regulator better tools to measure carbon emission data from the largest corporations – holding them accountable to new policies and shareholder resolutions.
Climate Tech companies like CLIMATIG can help businesses in Europe to be climate-resilient by mitigating the drastic aftermath of climate risks. CLIMATIG uses climate intelligence to calculate the cost of climate risks for the business’ assets without having to spend countless hours on research. CLIMATIG equips stakeholders with tools that will allow them to take advanced measures by making informed decisions backed by smart science data.
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