Europeans, prepare for catastrophe; You will be left to fend for yourselves

He also announced new EU rules requiring member states to clearly define who is responsible for protecting citizens from climate disasters.

According to Euronews, the European Commission will present a proposal today clarifying whether national, regional, or local authorities are responsible for preparing for climate-related disasters.

Member states will be able to allocate responsibilities themselves, but they will be required to define them clearly.

Hoekstra warned that the world is heading towards a temporary, and possibly more prolonged, overshoot of the 1.5°C warming limit established by the Paris Agreement. This makes it essential to prepare for increasingly extreme heat and climate disasters, even if emissions are successfully reduced.

According to European Commission projections, global warming could reach 2°C by 2050 and 3°C by 2100, with Europe warming approximately twice as fast as the global average.

Hoekstra estimated that the economic damage caused by extreme weather events this summer had exceeded €100 billion.

However, the strategy does not provide for any new funding to help households adapt to climate change.

Hoekstra pointed to a proposal to allocate 35% of the EU budget to climate and nature, as well as the €30 billion that the European Investment Bank has pledged for climate adaptation investments by 2030.

Funding will also depend on negotiations over the EU’s next multiannual budget, in which climate spending will compete with priorities such as defence, security, competitiveness, and agriculture.

The Commission also plans to work with the insurance sector, given that only around 25% of assets exposed to climate risks are insured, according to a senior Commission official.

Hoekstra said that preventive investment made economic sense, but he did not announce a new support programme for households or explain how lower-income citizens would be able to afford the necessary adaptations.