Brussels wants every member state working from the same three-degree outlook

The European Commission on Tuesday put forward a climate resilience framework together with a European law that would require member states to assess their climate risks in the same way. According to EUbusiness, all countries would use a single reference trajectory: 1.5 degrees of warming by 2030, 2 degrees by 2050 and 3 degrees by 2100, each compared with pre-industrial levels. VRT NWS notes that this scenario clashes with the official goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees.

The figures are large. The Commission puts climate damage over 2022 to 2025 at about 200 billion euros, or 50 billion a year, Eunews reports. Adapting infrastructure and the economy would take around 70 billion euros of investment annually. The Commission says every euro invested yields a multiple in avoided damage. Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra described the past summer as a moment of truth, according to Eunews, while Teresa Ribera said Europe is poorly prepared.

Concrete steps include a European heat plan, a water initiative and an insurance alliance against natural disasters. Member states are to replace their various plans with a single national strategic plan. VRT NWS highlights nature-based solutions such as wetlands and more urban greenery, citing Flanders' Blue Deal. The environmental group WWF considers the package too noncommittal, since concrete targets, oversight and funding are missing. No new money is attached, while talks on the next long-term EU budget are still under way.