Climate change will cause particular disruptions to jobs and economic activity in food production, agriculture and tourism sectors, reported the European Climate Foundation and European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) yesterday.
Moreover, climate change will cause an additional burden for the poor and generate large-scale migration by those whose livelihoods it disrupts.
“This is a wake up call for Europe to prioritise a green economy with decent job creation, the right redeployment programs and training to ensure the safety of green jobs, and reforms to enhance the environmental responsibility of companies,” said Harald Wiedenhofer, General Secretary of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT).
Climate-related impacts will vary widely between regions, with jobs in rural areas likely to suffer from insufficient access to water, reduced agricultural productivity and food insecurity, and those in urban areas threatened by food insecurity an the breakdown of food systems.
The report is one of a series of thirteen briefings based on the Fifth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published in 2013, which established that warming of the climate system is unequivocal and that human influence on the climate system is clear.
In June, the briefing on climate change implications for tourism reported that sea-level rise and more acidic oceans will threaten coastal tourism infrastructure and natural attractions, while rising temperatures will shorten winter sport seasons, and climate change will lead to changes in bio-diversity, affecting eco-tourism.
A different briefing on agriculture revealed that climate-related impacts are already reducing crop yields, and that this trend is likely to continue as temperatures rise further, in turn increasing food insecurity and price volatility for agricultural commodities, and reducing food quality.
The news is not all bad, and efforts to tackle climate change could create jobs. This is backed up by a recent report commissioned by EFFAT’s agriculture sector concluding that 2 million new jobs could be created in the EU as a result of innovative approaches in green sectors of activity.
Jobs in EFFAT sectors affected by climate change
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