Europe is a world leader in the fight against climate change but must do more to improve its resilience against global warming, the European Union’s environment agency warned recently. While ‘significant progress’ has been made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, the general state of Europe’s environment was ‘not good’, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said after compiling data from 38 countries.
its director, Leena YlaMononen, told reporters in Brussels that biodiversity was on the decline ‘due to persistent pressures driven by unsustainable production and consumption patterns’. Water resources, likewise, were under ‘severe pressure’, with one-third of the European population being affected by water stress, she said.
the climate assessment, conducted every five years, comes after EU member states at a UN climate summit last week were unable to present a 2035 plan to further slash greenhouse gases, due to disagreements within the 27-nation bloc.
the EU is also unable to agree on an ambitious proposal from the European Commission to reduce emissions by 90 percent by 2040 from 1990 levels