30 June 2015: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its Signals 2015 report titled ‘Living in a changing climate’ focusing on: current and future climate change impacts in Europe; the main sectors contributing to climate change; and the EU’s mitigation and adaptation efforts, particularly in relation to investments, soil, oceans and food production.

Part of the EEA’s annual series addressing issues of interest to the environmental debate and the wider public, ‘Living in a Changing Climate’ consists of seven articles and two interviews. The articles cover a broad range of issues, including: living in a changing climate; readiness for climate change; climate change and the seas; agriculture and climate change; soil and climate change; mitigating climate change; and climate change and investments. The interviews deal with climate change and human health, and climate change and cities.

In his editorial, Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, notes that the severity of climate change will depend on how much and how quickly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released into the atmosphere can be reduced. “The scientific community strongly recommends limiting the rise in global average temperatures and reducing GHG emissions to avoid adverse impacts of climate change,” he says.

According to the report, measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change are often seen as an additional burden on the economy. However, European countries are already spending public and private funds on research, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, transport, urban development, social protection, health and nature conservation. The report concludes that redirecting existing expenditure towards climate-friendly and sustainable options can not only contribute to mitigation and adaptation efforts, but also help create jobs. [Publication: Living in a Changing Climate] [EEA Press Release]