Europe warned of 'heavy price' over climate change

Europeans are devouring the world’s natural resources at twice the global rate, a new environmental study revealed today.

The European temperature is rising a third faster than the world average – and over a period of just 10 years, open space in Europe three times the size of Luxembourg has been built on.

Now the pace of environmental degradation threatens to undo the successes of recent European Union “green” legislation, according to the European Environment Agency.

The Agency’s five-year environmental assessment says that policy- makers, businesses and ordinary citizens will pay “a heavy price” unless more dramatic measures are taken to combat climate change and preserve the natural heritage.

The survey looked at 32 countries – the 25 EU member states plus Bulgaria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Romania, Turkey and Switzerland – and found climate change “on a scale not seen for 5,000 years”.

:: The three hottest years on record were the last three – 2002, 2003 and 2004 and the fourth was 1998;

:: Europe’s average temperature rose by 0.95 degrees Celsius during the 20th century, 35% more than the global average increase of 0.7 degrees;

:: Ten per cent of Alpine glaciers disappeared during the summer of 2003;

:: At current rates, three-quarters of Swiss glaciers will have melted by 2050.

But climate change is only one area of concern.

The Copenhagen-based Agency says biodiversity, marine ecosystems, land and water resources, air pollution and health all need more attention.

The report acknowledges EU efforts to counter temperature rise by setting a target to limit the increase to 2 degrees above pre- industrial levels, but says that without effective action over several decades, “global warming will see ice sheets melting in the north and the spread of deserts from the south”.

Past EU environmental legislation has worked, says the report, with cleaner water and air, a ban on some ozone-depleting substances, a doubling of the waste recycling rate, and cars with dramatically lower pollution levels. Some toxic emissions today are one tenth of what they would have been by now without such efforts.

But it has taken 10 to 20 years to deliver results – and now these environmental success stories are being overtaken by changes in personal consumption patterns.

Europeans are living longer and more live alone, putting greater demands on living space.

Between 1990 and 2000, more than 800,000 hectares of Europe’s land – three times the size of Luxembourg – was built on.

If this trend continues, says the report, Europe’s urban area will double in just over a century.

“Managing urban sprawl is essential if we are to protect our natural resources,” it states, adding: “We travel further and more often and are consuming the planet’s natural resources at twice the world average rate.

“Transport is the fastest growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. For example, air travel is expected to double between now and 2030.

“As a result, we leave a clear footprint outside Europe, depleting natural resources and damaging the world’s environment.”

The Agency’s executive director, Jacqueline McGlade, said: “Policy-makers must be far-sighted.

“We need a gradual shift away from taxes on labour and investment towards taxes on pollution and the inefficient use of materials and land.

“We also need reforms in the way that subsidies are applied to transport, housing, energy and agriculture. We need subsidies encouraging sustainable practices and efficient technologies.”

She said certain action had already helped, with high petrol tax in Europe leading to cars almost twice as fuel-efficient as American cars.

“We have seen the cost of inaction in terms of people’s lives and our environment, with examples such as the collapse of fish stocks, the use of asbestos in buildings, acid rain and lead in petrol. It pays to act now to secure the long term.”

In its analysis of individual countries, the report says the UK “is fortunate to have implemented a series of structural economic changes in the recent past that have brought environmental improvements.

“The country shows relatively good environmental progress and status, and relatively high levels of eco-efficiency.

“The UK is on track to meet its formal targets, except for the generation of municipal waste which is steadily increasing.”