Climate Action | Adaptation to climate change

Agriculture

Always highly reliant on nature, farmers are on the front line of climate change. Changing temperatures, rainfall and weather patterns call for new agricultural techniques and practices adjusted to changes in local climatic conditions. However, climate change will also bring new opportunities for this sector in some areas.

Agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change as it produces greenhouse gases such as methane from livestock and nitrous oxide from fertilisers. Action to make the sector more sustainable has caused its proportion of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions to drop from 11% in 1990 to 9% today (1).

However, the impacts of climate change on agriculture are growing and will demand more attention in the coming years.

The effects of climate change on agriculture are serious:

• Seasonal and annual average rainfall will drop in many areas, impacting crop growth;
• There will be an increase in the frequency of extreme weather patterns, such as heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods.

While not all weather changes will be bad for all of Europe, most of the continent will suffer from more extreme weather patterns.

In general, northern parts of Europe will experience hotter and drier summers and rising sea levels. This will result in longer growing seasons but also means wet winters with a greater possibility of flooding.

Meanwhile, southern regions will be hardest hit by higher temperatures and will receive less rainfall, leading to droughts and a decrease in the number of areas suitable for farming.

The map below shows some of the main changes different parts of Europe will experience in the future.

The impacts of climate change on agriculture

Agricultural adaptation

Finding ways of adapting to climate change will be crucial for the agricultural sector in the years to come. Coupling adaptation efforts to climate-change mitigation efforts will enable farmers to work with, and not against, the environment.
Measures include:

• Introducing crop rotation to make the most of the available water;
• Rewarding farmers who carry out sustainable practices;
• Using hedgerows to act as windbreaks and prevent water run-off;
• Using different crop varieties which are more resistant to heat or drought;
• Altering sowing dates and other practices to adapt to changing weather patterns;
• Modernising farm buildings and machinery to make them more energy efficient;
• Providing more information and training to keep farmers informed on climate change impacts.

EU actions

The EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) reform in 2003 ‘decoupled’ direct payments to farmers so that they do not focus on intensive production. Farmers are also rewarded now for managing their land in a sustainable way.

The EU launched a White Paper on adaptation to climate change in April 2009 which explains the main impacts climate change will have on agriculture and the implications for further reform of the CAP.

As the climate will not wait for us to make policies, the Commission has already acted on implementing what it calls ‘no regret’ options. These include using water and soils more sustainably, giving farmers the necessary skills to respond to future changes, improving co-operation between Member States and increasing research into climate and agriculture.

The EU’s approach emphasises that by working with nature and protecting the resources upon which they depend, farmers can better protect themselves against climate change.

In addition, Member States exchanging information can encourage better regional and local understanding of adaptation. The Commission is setting up a steering group to do this with a number of experts in key sectors, including agriculture.

(1) EU Commission DG Agriculture and Rural Development actions on climate change