The Impact Of Climate Change In The European Union

European Union is recognized as one of the leaders in implementing new environmental policies and instruments for them. The targets of the EU are often ones of the most ambitious in the world. Adaptation strategies are developing continuously to strengthen the resilience of Europe. However, for the EU member states it is not an easy task to collaborate in dealing with environmental issues, since their recourses and targets differ. For instance, in October 2014 The EU leaders agreed on greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030. It was a complicated process as renewable energy targets were constantly opposed by such countries as Poland, which depends on coal heavily, and the UK, which continues to explore shale gas. On the other hand, Germany …show more content…
If, for instance, climate change impacts led to international instability and reductions in the supply of raw materials and commodities, the UK could experience impacts starting from increased food price to changing migration patterns because of the move of environmental refugees from areas affected by extreme weather conditions (Hicks and Ranger, …show more content…
The legislation for the fifth carbon budget will be proposed by the government in 2016. The UK Committee on Climate Change carries out an assessment each year on whether the United Kingdom is going to meet its carbon budgets, and reports the results to the Parliament. Currently the country is going to outperform its first two carbon budgets. Economy-wide emissions fell by 7 % in 2011 from a base point of 1990. The reason for this is mainly the global recession and mild winter temperatures. However, in 2011 the rate of emissions reduction due to environmental policy measures was less than 1%. To meet next carbon budgets the reduction of emissions should be at the level of 3% a year. The progress towards the low carbon economy will be required in future (Committee of Climate Change,