On June 13th 2023, following the plenary session organised in the European Parliament in Strasbourg about the situation in Lebanon. Omar Harfouch, a political and human rights activist, met with a series of MEPs in the European Parliament in order to raise awareness concerning the human rights situation in Lebanon and the need to act to stop corruption in order to establish peace in the Middle East.
A long official meeting with Vice-President Othmar Karas in his office was organised to discuss religious freedom as well as dialogue in Lebanon and the need to work on peace and coexistence between the different religious groups so as to guarantee security and prosperity for the Lebanese people.
Members of the European Parliament showed respect and admiration for Harfouch’s commitment to establishing a dialogue between the different political and religious institutions as well as his fight against corruption and for a free and democratic Lebanon.
MEP Lopez intervened later in the day during the plenary session to highlight the case of Harfouch and to raise awareness concerning the Arab and mainly Lebanese leaders as well as youth who want to establish a dialogue and fight against institutional antisemitism and find themselves accused of treason and risk prison or even worse, the death penalty.
During his meetings with MEPs, Harfouch explained how the economic situation was worse after the Beirut Blast and how his native country Lebanon was struggling to fight against corruption after a huge sum of money (about 10 billion euros) was transferred to European banking accounts of Lebanese Elite PEP, ministers and politicians and their families.
Thanks to his constant work for more than two years together with Judge Ghada Aoun, famous French Lawyer William Bourdon and some NGOs, the Financial French Tribunal and the Swiss Justice managed to freeze about 600 million euro of stolen Lebanese money.
Omar Harfouch’s program is to promote women’s rights and to give Lebanese women the right to give citizenship to their children born to foreign fathers.
He also wants to find a solution to the refugee crisis by naturalizing the Palestinian children who were born and have lived in Lebanon for years as refugees and who have no access to water, education and health.
There is a warrant arrest against Harfouch since he participated in a conference at the European Parliament in which according to Pro Hezbollah allies, pro-Israel and Jewish citizens were present. Harfouch met MEP Lizzi (member of the delegation for the relation with Mashreq countries), MEP Andrey Kovatchev (member of AFET committee), MEP Anna Bonfrisco (Member of EU Foreign, MEP Lopez Isturiz, MEP David Lega, as well as MEP Alvarez.
The above MEPs showed support and solidarity with the Lebanese people as well as the EU commitment to help Lebanon in its political, economic and humanitarian crisis and to advocate for freedom, democracy, human rights and women’s rights in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, MEPs outlined their expectations for the 29-30 June EU summit, in light of recent events in Ukraine and progress towards concluding the EU’s Migration Pact.
MEPs denounced the destruction of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam, the latest war crime committed by Russia and one that must be met with consequences. They called for the EU to continue its strong support for Ukraine, for new sanctions against Russia, and for the billions of frozen assets by Russian oligarchs to be used to reconstruct Ukraine.
On migration and asylum, some MEPs welcomed the agreement reached by member states as a step forward that will help improve the treatment and reception of refugees, better protect the EU’s external borders, and enable the EU to fight human trafficking more effectively. Some speakers also stressed that the EU must do more to fight the causes of migration and that it needs to cooperate more with third countries. Others criticised the debate as toxic and driven by fear, noting that strengthened borders will not lead to fewer refugees and that that the deal in Council de facto abolishes the right to asylum in the EU.
Other topics MEPs raised were the green and digital transition, the nature restoration law, the upcoming revision of the EU’s long-term budget, and the need to reindustrialize Europe.
Ahead of MEPs’ interventions, Commission Vice-President Šefčovič and Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Roswall took the floor for the Commission and the Council respectively.
On Wednesday, the President of the Republic of Kosovo,Vjosa Osmani, addressed the European Parliament in a formal sitting in Strasbourg.
“The Republic of Kosovo and its people continue to look to the future – a European future”, said President Osmani and called for more robust regional cooperation. “We have extended a hand of cooperation to all our neighbours and we have done so in large part because our people deserve a brighter future”, she added. To Serbs living in Kosovo, she stressed that Kosovo “is your home. And we will do everything in our power to make sure that you feel protected, included, equal and heard.”
As the first President of Kosovo, since Kosovo’s independence in 2008, to speak before the European Parliament, she stressed that her country wants a sustainable, just peace, and stability with respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and good neighbourly relations at its heart.
“In this process, we need strong European leadership – that we so often witness in this Parliament – across every institution. This will require a proactive, credible and straightforward roadmap for our region’s future as part of the European family,” she said.
Talking about Kosovo’s path to EU membership, President Osmani said her country recognises the challenges that lie ahead of it and that Kosovo believes in a merit-based process for countries that truly respect and act upon European values. “In our DNA European values and the EU spirit are deeply engrained. It is these values that shaped our past, inspire us in the present, and guide us towards a future where Kosovo flourishes as a beacon of European ideals,” she added.
President Osmani stressed Kosovo’s commitment to the rule of law and justice as well as to combating crime and corruption and enhancing transparency. She said Kosovo is also focused on advancing gender equality and promoting women empowerment in all walks of life.
“EU values serve as our moral compass and guide us and our people to the highest peaks of achievement,” President Osmani said.
With regard to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, President Osmani said there should be “no gray zone as to where we stand on autocracies and tyrannies. (…) Kosovo may be a small country, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to support our Ukrainian friends,” she said.
Dozens of Christians were massacred in a church, attending service, standing under a crucifix with their children, and Europe says it is ” shocked. ” But ” the root causes of this insecurity in Nigeria are not based on religion. Sometimes there are religiously motivated attacks, however, they are mainly due to local circumstances, for example, competition for scarce resources, endemic poverty, little education, low access to public services, unemployment.” Causing them, then, is “generally a sense of exclusion.”
Exclusion: this is the interpretation Dombrovskis Valdis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission has made of the horrendous Pentecost massacre in Nigeria as a way of condemning “this attack and violence in all its forms, regardless of faith, religion.”
Slogans that are once again not followed by facts, Carlo Fidanza, a Fratelli d’Italia-ECR MEP in the European Parliament and co-chair, along with Peter Van Dalen of the EPP of the Intergroup on Religious Freedom, explains to Tempi:
“On the contrary, in the debate we asked for and obtained in the last plenary session in Strasbourg, which took place at night strictly away from the cameras, EU Commission Vice-President Dombrovskis embraced a denialist line rather widespread in laicist circles. According to this understanding, the causes of the endless massacres of Christians in Nigeria can be traced to local issues, territorial disputes, social inequalities. Little or nothing would they have to do with the religious factor. I felt it only right to reiterate that unfortunately this is not the case, that the vast majority-just like the innocent victims of Pentecost-are killed because they are Christians and because their being Christians translates into a presence marked by a social and economic model that aims at the development of those lands and not at their depredation. That is why Christians over there are inconvenient. But if we refuse to open our eyes and, at the same time, do not recognize that the genocide of Christians concerns us because it touches that very cross that forged European civilization, it is clear that there can never be a reaction.”
On May 19, in the wake of the murder of Christian student Deborah Yakubu, who was stoned and burned alive, and the assaults on churches, the EU Parliament decided to reject (244 MEPs against, 231 in favor) the call for a debate on the massacres of Christians in Nigeria. A few hours earlier Shagufta Kauser and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Pakistani married couple sentenced to death for blasphemy, had spoken to the EU parliament.
What can you tell us about that testimony and what was the purpose of it?
That vote was a disgrace, which is why as soon as we received the tragic news about Owo we immediately resubmitted a similar request. And this time, in the face of 50 innocent victims, they had the good heart not to oppose it. But they did not want us to vote on a motion, and after all, when voting on a specific resolution on religious persecution, the same majority had expunged from the text any reference to Christians and their executioners. As if to say: yes, many die, but we are unable to say who they are or who kills them. Listening to the testimonies of the two Pakistani spouses saved from the death penalty for blasphemy thanks also to the work of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Religious Freedom, which I have the honor of co-chairing, would have done a lot of good to this majority of Chrstianophobes. Thanks to their voices, we understood to the fullest extent the stubbornness of anti-blasphemy laws that become tools of personal vendettas. We are talking about huge nations, in Nigeria’s case a wealthy nation, in Pakistan’s case a nuclear power. Understanding how to help communities on a legal level as well is essential.
5,898 is the number of Christians killed last year, 16 per day. 5,110 are the churches attacked or destroyed. 6,175 Christians arrested and imprisoned without trial, 3,829 those kidnapped. In total, the number of Christians who suffered persecution, ambushes, massacres, and kidnappings in 2021 because of their faith is about 360 million. All of these figures are on the rise. And the place where the most Christians are being killed in the world is Nigeria.
What place does the protection of religious freedom have on the agenda of the European Parliament?
We as an intergroup do our best to keep attention but, despite our efforts, we are unable to get active members from left-wing groups. The few who are sensitive to the issue are in a position of cultural subordination within their respective groups. This leads to difficulties even in calendaring a dutiful debate after a massacre. And on the other hand it is no better at the level of the European Commission, which for months has had to appoint the new Special Envoy for Religious Freedom but, despite or our repeated appeals, still has not done so. Even the Italian government has managed to get there first, which, in other busy affairs, found time to name diplomatic adviser Andrea Benzo as the new envoy for Italy.
In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where Christians make up a little more than 50 percent of the population, the faithful find themselves squeezed in a deadly grip formed by Islamic terrorists Boko Haram and Iswap on one side and Fulani Muslim herdsmen on the other. And despite the striking increase in violence, Joe Biden’s United States has inexplicably decided to expunge Nigeria from the list of countries of concern from a religious freedom perspective.
What is the European approach and how does it intervene, in what way, and how many resources are coming from Europe to Buhari?
The Biden administration’s choice was a clamorous mistake. The data we published in our intergroup’s Periodic Report on Religious Freedom, collected through the work of leading Christian-inspired NGOs, tell us that Nigeria is one of the countries where the situation has deteriorated the most in recent years. Islamist militias affiliated with Isis and Al Qaeda have been joined by tribes of Fulani herders, also Muslim, who are descending southward, attempting to eradicate the Christian presence, destroying their religious identity and appropriating those lands. As is well known, the EU has a weak foreign policy and has only one tool at its disposal, the tool of economics and finance. It is difficult to quantify how much money we give to Nigeria every year through various cooperation projects, and that is why I will file an urgent question to know the real amount, which should be in the hundreds of millions of euros anyway. Here it is, it is time to condition every single euro donated by the EU to Nigeria to the concrete commitment of the Buhari government in countering these gangs and guaranteeing religious freedom and security, first and foremost to the Christian communities.
In the Europe of “rights” alone, is religious freedom a problem?
The EU pursues a very pushy “rights” agenda, which leads me to think that now every license and personal preference becomes a socially recognized right in itself. Yet when we talk about religious freedom, that is, a fundamental human right recognized as such by international conventions, an ideological reflex kicks in, which is, however, based on a wrong assumption. Certainly as a Catholic I personally feel closer to my fellow believers, but defending religious freedom means defending the right of every community and every individual to believe but also not to believe, and not to be discriminated against or persecuted because of it. To say that Christians are by far the most persecuted is not to espouse a confessional view; to say that among those responsible for these persecutions most are Muslims or that anti-Semitism is rampant in Muslim communities in Europe is not to be Islamophobic. Because in other latitudes there are minorities of Muslims persecuted by other Muslims. It is simply the tragic reality, which must be faced for what it is, calling things by their proper names in order to deal with them. The rest is cancel culture that claims to relegate faith to a private matter, eliminating its dimension of public witness. An evil we cannot resign ourselves to.
While households are willing to adjust their behavior to adopt greener lifestyles, governments need to do a lot more to encourage more sustainable choices. Making environmentally friendly options more affordable and convenient, and creating concrete incentives for behavioural change is key, according to a new OECD analysis.
How Green is Household Behavior? Sustainable choices in a time of interlocking crisesanalyses responses in the OECD’s third Survey on Environmental Policies and Individual Behavior Change (EPIC). It says that – given significant pressures on the climate and environment from household consumption – people should be given easier access to sustainable options and real enticements to make choices that can reduce environmental footprints, ranging from households’ ability to choose renewably generated electricity or to easily charge electric vehicle batteries.
Availability and feasibility must be complemented by affordability and convenience – for example improved public transport through more frequent services, better network coverage and lower fares. Rewards for greener behavior can also drive sustainable habits; for example, shoppers bringing reusable containers could receive discounts on sustainable food items. Equally, it is important to ensure that the more environmentally sustainable alternatives are not confined to small segments of the population, such as higher-income households, homeowners and those living in detached housing, but also for lower-income households, tenants and those living in apartment buildings.
Of the more than 17,000 households surveyed across nine countries in the EPIC Survey, over half of respondents expect climate change and environmental issues to reduce quality of life for both current and future generations. Two thirds (65%) indicate that they are willing to make personal compromises to their lifestyles for the benefit of the environment. However, for many respondents these compromises should not entail a financial cost; 63% of respondents agreed that environmental policies should not impose extra money. Approximately 40% of respondents agreed with both these statements, pointing to a likely challenge for governments in implementing demand-side measures.
“This Survey shows that availability, affordability and convenience are the key drivers for people to make environmentally sound decisions, and there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” OECD Environment Director Jo Tyndall said. “Governments should seek to remove barriers to sustainable choices and to improve the incentives for making these choices. Households need greater access to all manner of more sustainable options – from enhanced public transport and accessible car charging stations to renewable energy and collection services for different types of waste.”
The Survey, which follows the OECD’s earlier EPIC Surveys in 2008 and 2011, was conducted in mid-2022 across households in Belgium, Canada, Israel, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Overall, 42% of respondents report that personal safety is a very important issue and 41% report economic concerns as very important. In comparison, 35% think climate change or other environmental issues are very important. Concern about climate change and the environment tends to be higher among women, older respondents and those with higher education.
Other key findings from the Survey include:
Energy: People are more likely to take energy-saving actions that require little effort, such as turning off lights on leaving a room (92% of respondents) rather than harder-to-adopt behaviours, such as minimising heating or air-conditioning (68%). Uptake of renewables and energy efficiency is more limited even when options are available. Among households for whom installation is possible, less than a third have installed heat pumps (30%), solar panels (29%), and battery storage (27%).
Transport: Most households still rely on fossil fuel-driven cars, with 75% reporting that at least one household member uses one regularly. Among regular car users, 54% said they would drive less if public transport were better, e.g. if it were cheaper, more frequent, or more widespread. A lack of charging infrastructure appears to remain a barrier to the uptake of electric vehicles, with 33% of respondents reporting that there are no charging stations within 3km of where they live.
Waste: Many households use reusable shopping bags (83%) but fewer buy second-hand items (37%) or rent goods where this could be a viable option (20%). Households with access to drop-off and kerbside recycling collection produce on average 26% and 42% less mixed waste than households without such services, underscoring the importance of access to convenient options. Households who are charged for mixed waste compost 55% of their food waste versus 35% for those that are not charged. 16% of households dispose of unwanted electric and electronic goods along with their mixed waste.
Food: Affordability, taste, freshness and nutritional value are more important to respondents than environmental considerations when making food purchases. Dairy products are the most frequently consumed animal products, with 69% of households reporting that they consume them several times. Overall 24% of households report eating red meat several times week, and less than half of respondents would be willing to substitute meat with a lab-grown alternative.
COVID-19: While the pandemic has resulted in long-lasting shifts in certain behaviours like working from home, other environmentally related behaviour has seen less of a lasting impact. 57% of respondents expect to fly as much post-COVID as they did before and just 28% expect to fly less. On food habits, 29% expect to eat out less frequently post-COVID and 17% expect to do so more often. Similarly, 25% expect to order takeout for delivery less often while 15% expect to do so more often. Households overwhelmingly reported that their volumes of mixed and recyclable waste had not changed since the pandemic.
This latest EPIC Survey took place as environmental issues have risen up policy agendas. Technological innovations mean renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuel electricity in many countries, electric vehicles are more available and affordable, and app-based solutions can reduce food waste and enable peer-to-peer sharing of goods and services.
Expressed support for environmental policies varies by the type of policy instrument considered and it is also linked to peoples’ environmental attitudes. For example, support is widespread for information-based and structural measures, but consistently lower for taxes or fees. People with higher environmental concern express greater support for all of the environmental policies surveyed than those with lower concern.
Nicholas Herd is a campaigner for L’Arche Canada, part of international non-profit organization working towards the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.
“I have lived with discrimination for part of my life. When I was young, and growing up, I was bullied because of my disability. But now I can use that voice, from the child that I was, to be heard, louder and louder. I can shout it on the top of a building or off a mountain, bigger than the UN so that persons with disabilities are included at the table.
That’s how big our voice should be around the world.
That’s the reason why we’re here in the United Nations. We want to be included.
This is my first time at the UN. I felt a bit emotional yesterday because I couldn’t believe that I’m here doing this.
What inspires me in my work is animation in film. I grew up with Disney, Pixar, and Marvel films, but I always felt there was something missing; you don’t see a person with Down syndrome, which is a bit annoying.
But now you can with Free Bird an animated short film for which I am the creative director.
It came out on World Down Syndrome Day in 2021. It really made me happy when I first saw it released on YouTube, and then we qualified for the 2022 Oscar Awards.
You can see a person with Down syndrome in the short; you can get the facts and forget the myths.
The myth I really want to crush the most involves people with intellectual disabilities who were institutionalized. They should not be shamed or ashamed to be who they are.
Nick Herd, creative consultant, on the set of a short movie production for L’Arche Canada and USA, in March 2022.
I’m also in a theater programme called Sol Express in Toronto, and a play called Birds Make Me Think about Freedom was led by institutionalized survivors.
I recently interviewed some of them on my talk show, Keeping It Real with Nick. I talked to the survivors to get information that could help with the production of the play. After me and other Sol Express members talked with them, we turned it into a production, not about them, but with them. That’s inclusion.
There was a survivor I interviewed that shared what it felt like to be free. He would remember being in the institution and seeing the birds outside. It was difficult to hear that type of story because he didn’t have the type of freedom to go where he wanted.
Nobody should be left behind, including people who have intellectual disabilities and who were institutionalized. Now we can help them to be included and participate.
Everyone brings something different
Everybody can take part and contribute to the debate about disabilities; our voices are being heard at the table and at different tables, where everything can be more inclusive, with more awareness, and more participation, where everybody can take part in meetings or even talk shows. We have a right to have a talk show. We have a right to work.
Nick Herd (right) and his colleague Warren Pot from L’Arche Canada are interviewed at the United Nations.
I love my job, and I love being here. The message coming from that is the reason why we’re in the United Nations, talking about freedom, inclusion, awareness, and, of course, education.
More work needs to be done. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope to see it eventually.
I live with my parents and have the freedom to come and go. That’s something that I have lived with my whole life. Being part of a family or being part of something bigger, you feel more accepted. I’m an uncle and have a niece, and my sister is expecting a baby boy. The best part is I can’t wait to meet the little guy.”
“Patriarchy must be a thing of the past. Our future depends on women and girls being at the table everywhere when decisions are made,” said Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“It was only last year that for the first time in history women were represented in every functioning parliament in the world. Yet today, still only one in four parliamentarians are women”, he continued.
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) is spotlighting women’s participation in public and political life in June as part of its monthly spotlights, marking the 75th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The High Commissioner urged States, parliamentarians, the media, civil society, the private sector and every active citizen to take action, laying out a series of steps that need to be taken starting with tackling the root causes of gender-based discrimination.
He said there needed to be greater emphasis on education and awareness-raising and called for the greater recognition of the value of unpaid care work which disproportionately falls on women.
He called for consideration to be given to quotas, reserved seats and training opportunities to be expanded for women serving in legislative bodies and other key institutions, as well as the private sector.
Zero tolerance of harassment
UN treaty bodies need to keep the push going for gender parity, and zero tolerance against harassment and violence relating to women in politics, including online, needs to become the norm.
And women role models need to have greater visibility, Mr. Turk said.
“At the current rate of change it would take 155 years for women to close the gender gap. This struggle is even harder for historically marginalized women whose representation lags behind.”
“Simply said, this is a wake-up call”, the UN rights chief declared.
“Parity can’t wait. Equal and meaningful participation of women in practice isn’t just about women’s rights to be heard, it is about our societies’ ability to tackle the most pressing crises confronting our world today.”
Pets are bad for the environment, the boss of a luxury airline has claimed in the Daily Telegraph.
In defense of his own industry, Patrick Hanson, head of Luxaviation, claims that animals are as harmful as private jets.
Speaking at a Financial Times summit, Mr Hanson said one of his clients’ aircraft emits just 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is about as much as three pet dogs.
Mr Hanson referred to calculations by consultant and author Mike Berners-Lee, who claimed the annual carbon footprint of a single Labrador was around 770kg.
A larger dog, such as a Great Dane, can emit up to 2,500 kg of carbon dioxide per year due to its larger food portions.
A study last year titled “The Environmental Impact of Dog and Cat Diets” found that wet pet food emits eight times more emissions than dry pet food because it contains more meat.
Vet visits and plastic toys also add to pets’ carbon footprint.
Some green groups recommend vegan food for cats and dogs, although there are no conclusive studies on whether animals can stay healthy on a plant-based diet.
Several vegan celebrities, including Joaquin Phoenix and Alicia Silverstone, have switched to a plant-based diet for their pets.
According to consultancy Future Market Insights, the vegan pet food market will grow by nearly seven percent over the next decade.
In 2021, Lewis Hamilton was criticized for his hypocrisy after posting a photo of his vegan dog while apparently flying on a private jet.
Mr Berners-Lee said the figure of 2.1 tonnes of CO2 looked “suspiciously” low and probably only accounted for short flights by small aircraft.
According to estimates from the environmental non-governmental organization “Transport and Environment”, a private jet can emit 2 t of CO2 in one hour, while the average person in Europe emits 8.2 t of CO2 per year.
A 2021 study by the group found that private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting than commercial jets per passenger and 50 times more polluting than trains.
Emissions from private jets increased by 31% between 2005 and 2019, even as concern about the effects of climate change became mainstream.
Their use has soared since the pandemic, set to grow by 14% between 2019 and 2022, as wealthy individuals seek to avoid the new restrictions and inconveniences of air travel.
Rishi Sunak is among several public figures who have faced criticism for using private jets. Earlier this year, the UK prime minister took £500,000 worth of private jet travel in less than two weeks, prompting criticism from the Liberal Democrats that the government was “breaking its own green promises”.
Pop star Taylor Swift was forced to issue a statement clarifying that her private jet is regularly rented out to other people after a Twitter account appeared to calculate the emissions impact of several celebrities’ flights.
Climate activists in Europe targeted the use of private jets, disrupting operations at airports, including in Geneva on Tuesday. Last year, hundreds of protesters stopped private planes taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Five months later, the airport announced plans to ban private jets by 2026.
Mr Hansen told the FT summit in Monaco that the use of private jets “is not going away because they provide time” for wealthy people.
He added that the industry was aware of the criticism and was working to reduce the impact of emissions, although a shortage of sustainable aviation fuels meant they were not a practical solution.
However, he said sometimes it’s better not to use planes for shorter trips.
“We tell our customers: don’t fly from Paris to Lyon.”
Mr Hansen told the Telegraph that the comments were made “to put into perspective the actions of each of us when it comes to CO2 emissions”.
“Of course, if nobody flew privately, those CO2 emissions from private jets wouldn’t be emitted. And if nobody had a pet, there wouldn’t be pet food production producing CO2 emissions,” he said. .
The UK Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, convened by a cross-section of society, called in its 2020 recommendations for a ban on private jets and the introduction of a frequent flyer fee.
Luxaviation did not immediately respond to the Telegraph’s questions about the distance or the number of the miles traveled by the customer used in his example.
Photo by Nancy Guth: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photography-of-three-dogs-looking-up-850602/
Under our changing climate, the weather in Europe is getting more extreme. What could this summer bring in terms of heatwaves, droughts, floods, and forest fires? The overall outlook is pessimistic as we have already seen this past winter and spring. This makes adaptation to climate change and better preparedness crucial, according to a European Environment Agency extreme weather product published today, which explains the top weather-related climate challenges we face.
With the latest data available, the new EEA web product ‘‘Extreme summer weather in a changing climate: is Europe prepared?’ takes a deep dive into the main summer weather extremes that have increasingly impacted the European population, economy and nature. Users can explore interactive maps and charts information on heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires, and the rise of climate-sensitive diseases like dengue fever. The briefings on each of these extremes look back at past events, what we can expect in the future according to scientific projections, and how prepared we are to deal with them, including presenting examples and best practices across Europe.
The aim of the web product is to provide up-to-date information and data to raise awareness among decision makers and the public of the urgent need to address climate change and to support ongoing government efforts in putting in place climate mitigation measures and building societal preparedness.
Heatwaves that are dangerous to human health — like the heatwaves of the summer of 2022 — are getting more frequent, longer and more intense and will continue to do so under all climate scenarios. In southern Europe, especially, there may be more than 60 summer days during which conditions are dangerous to human health — meaning higher number of additional deaths and hospital admissions, especially among the elderly and the sick, unless adaptation measures are taken. Heatwaves are the deadliest extreme weather events in Europe and the increasing vulnerability of the European population due to ageing and urbanisation requires urgent implementation of measures to prevent loss of life.
More frequent, extreme flooding
Heavy precipitation events are projected to increase over most of Europe, leading to increased incidence of flooding, especially in north-western and central Europe. Adaptation measures are necessary to protect society from the worst impacts, such as those caused by flooding in July 2021 in Germany and Belgium.
The exposure of population and assets to the risk continues with the ongoing development of floodplains, often putting the more vulnerable populations and facilities such as schools and hospitals at risk. Between 1980 and 2021, damages due to flooding amounted to nearly EUR 258 billion and are on average rising every year by over 2%.
More frequent, severe droughts
Since 2018, more than half of Europe has been affected by extreme drought conditions in both winter and summer. The 2022 droughts substantially reduced yields of crops like maize, corn, soybeans or olive oil. Another dry winter does not bode well for this summer and the outlook is pessimistic. The exceptionally dry and warm winter meant low snow cover and resulted in little soil moisture, low river flows and reduced water storage in reservoirs in most of southern and western Europe.
Long-term climate projections indicate that southern and central Europe will become even drier and hotter throughout the 21st century with devastating consequences for the agriculture sector. Total economic losses across all economic sectors linked to droughts are expected to rise by the end of this century from the current EUR9 billion per year to EUR 25 billion per year at 1.5 degree Celcius (°C) of global warming, EUR 31 billion per year at 2°C of warming and EUR 45 billion a 3 °C warming based on scientific scenarios.
More widespread wildfires
Most wildfires in Europe are started by human activities but climatic conditions — dry and hot periods with strong winds – determine their intensity and impact. Forest fires largely affect southern Europe, but also increasingly central and even northern Europe. Since 1980, 712 people lost their lives across Europe as a direct impact of wildfires. The 2022 wildfire season was the second worst since 2000, with over 5,000 km2 (twice the area of Luxembourg) burnt during the summer months (June, July, August) and a record area of Natura2000 nature protection sites affected.
Under the high emissions climate change scenario, the south of Europe, in particular the Iberian Peninsula, will experience a marked increase in the number of days with high fire danger. The number of people living near wildland and exposed to high-to-extreme fire danger levels for at least 10 days per year would grow from now by 15 million (+24%) under the 3°C global warming scenario.
Rise in climate-sensitive diseases
Some disease-carrying species are widespread in Europe (such as ticks which can spread Lyme borreliosis or tick-borne encephalitis), while others are invasive (like Aedes albopictus also known as the tiger mosquito which can spread dengue fever). A warmer climate means both endemic and invasive species can spread further north or be present at higher altitudes than in the past. The climate suitability for the tiger mosquito is projected to increase in large parts of Europe, especially in western Europe which could become a hot spot for the mosquito by the end of the century.
Malaria could also re-emerge in Europe due to the widespread presence of the Anopheles mosquito species which can carry the disease. Increased rainfall and presence of stagnant water creates more habitat for mosquitoes, and warmer temperatures increase the mosquito bite rate and the development of the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria.
What is being done to prepare and adapt?
Preparing our societies for climate change in Europe is driven by an EU policy framework (mainly EU strategy on adaptation to climate change and the EU Climate Law) and national policies. All EU Member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye (EEA member countries) have national adaptation policies already in place. The EEA monitors country adaptation planning and implementation by using reported information from Member States and other sources.
However, more could be done to link adaptation policies with sectoral policies, for example on health. Most national adaptation policies and health strategies recognise the impacts of heat on cardiovascular and respiratory systems. But less than half cover direct impacts of heat like dehydration or heat stroke.
There is an urgent need to upscale the implementation of adaptation measures such as heat-health action plans, boosting the number of green and blue spaces (trees and water) in cities which can lower temperatures and reduce the risk of flooding, or surveillance and early warnings for climate-sensitive infectious diseases.
Adaptation is urgently needed in agriculture. Farmers can limit adverse impacts of risking temperature and droughts by adapting crop varieties, changing sowing dates and with changed irrigation patterns. Without more adaptation, yields and farm incomes are projected to decline in the future.
The implementation of measures in practice often happens at the subnational level, therefore the commitment of local and regional authorities to adaptation is crucial. Over 4,500 cities, towns and municipalities are signatories to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, committed to action on adaptation and more than 300 regions and local authorities have signed the Charter of the EU Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change. This latest EEA tool includes numerous examples of adaptation measures put in place across Europe, which are sourced from the EEA’s Climate-ADAPT portal.
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The agency’s flagship annual report, Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, found that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence, and human rights abuses stood at a record 108.4 million, up 19.1 million on the previous year – which was also a record increase.
“These figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions. The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes,” High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
Of the global total, 35.3 million were refugees, people who crossed an international border to find safety, while a greater share, 58 per cent, representing 62.5 million people – were internally displaced due to conflict and violence.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the top driver of displacement in 2022. The number of refugees soared from 27,300 at the end of 2021, to 5.7 million at the end of 2022 – representing the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War Two.
Estimates for the number of refugees from Afghanistan were sharply higher by the year’s end, due to revised estimates of Afghans hosted in Iran, many having arrived in previous years.
Similarly, the report reflected upward revisions by Colombia and Peru of the numbers of Venezuelans, mostly categorized as “other people in need of international protection,” hosted in those countries.
Urgent funding for host countries
The figures also show it remains the world’s low and middle-income countries, not wealthy states that host most displaced people.
The 46 least developed nations, account for less than 1.3 per cent of global gross domestic product, yet they hosted more than 20 per cent of all refugees, UNHCR said.
Funding for displacement and to support hosts, remained inadequate for 2022 and the same applies so far this year, the agency added
‘Responsibility sharing’ needed
“People around the world continue to show extraordinary hospitality for refugees as they extend protection and help to those in need,” Mr. Grandi added, “but much more international support and more equitable responsibility sharing is required, especially with those countries that are hosting most of the world’s displaced.
At the end of 2022, an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality, a full two per cent more than at the end of 2021.
The Global Trends report is being launched six months ahead of the second Global Refugee Forum, a major gathering in Geneva bringing together a range of actors to find new solutions for people forced to flee and their hosts, and to emphasize the importance of global solidarity in confronting the problem.
