With Europe now the world's fastest-warming continent, the lack of action on climate change is stark – Philip Lymbery

According to the latest assessment by the European Environment Agency (EEA), energy, food, homes, and our health could all be at risk. Without urgent action, we face catastrophe. And as climate change doesn’t respect borders, it means that whether we live on mainland Europe, or Scotland, England, Wales or beyond, this concerns us all. The report echoes similar ones from a range of sources, not least the Scottish Government, which found climate change was threatening the country’s soils, agriculture, wildlife, and coastal habitats.

Climate records are now tumbling like dominoes. Last year was the hottest on record, with global temperatures already close to the 1.5C threshold deemed ‘safe’ by the UN Paris Agreement.

Fighting on two fronts

Our leaders are leaving things too late. The EEA’s assessment comes on top of a worrying report by the Climate Change Committee looking at UK Government performance on tackling climate change. UK policy development was found to be “too slow”, with confidence in meeting net-zero targets ebbing away.

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Failure to act fast enough has left us fighting on two fronts: reducing the damage and trying to stop it getting out of hand. Frankly, all our futures are now at stake. Decarbonising our economy is key.

As the EEA’s executive director, Leena Ylä-Mononen, puts it, “policymakers must act now to reduce climate risks both by rapid emission cuts and by strong adaptation policies and actions”. Nothing new there. So, what will it take to really get decisive action?

Crop failures, water shortages

The EEA report predicts extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding in Europe will get worse, even under optimistic global warming scenarios. As the heat ramps up, our health looks set to be affected too, with people working outdoors and the elderly amongst those particularly vulnerable. Rising sea levels and changes in storm patterns are likely to cause devastation. Crop failures look set to increase. Prolonged droughts will affect large areas, particularly in southern regions, affecting the availability of food and drinking water.

One way to ease the situation suggested by the EEA is a shift from animal-based proteins to sustainably grown, plant-based proteins, which would reduce water consumption in agriculture and dependency on imported feed. Other ways to act ambitiously enough include ending harmful subsidies for agriculture and fisheries. Nature-based climate adaptation solutions such as giving space to wetlands and diverse forests should be high on the action list as they store water and absorb carbon. Restoring our oceans as the world’s greatest carbon sink must also be an urgent priority.

Measures are needed to build a clean, low-carbon and circular economy that steers away from our current practices that are so often based on activities which drive pollution and global warming. As the tide of climate turmoil rises, there’ll be no getting away from the fact that about a third of greenhouse gas emissions comes from food and agriculture. What’s on our plate will be central to achieving a sustainable future.

Philip Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, a former United Nations Food Systems Champion and an award-winning author. His latest book is Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future. He’s on X/Twitter @philip_ciwf