Many European schools and hospitals at risk from heat waves and floods: How to protect vulnerable groups from climate change?
Climate change affects all Europeans but vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, children, low-income groups and people with health problems or disabilities, are the most affected. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, looks at these inequalities and how to address them through equitable climate change adaptation.
The EEA briefing “Towards ‘just resilience’: leaving no one behind when adapting to climate change” outlines which groups in Europe are most affected by climate change, what kind of adaptation measures can protect those groups, and how social justice can be embedded in adaptation policies and actions.
More and more vulnerable Europeans are increasingly exposed to dangerous heat waves, due to the combination of rising temperatures, urbanisation, and the ageing of the population, according to the EEA briefing. Flood-prone areas in some countries tend to have higher shares of the elderly or unemployed people who may not be able to relocate or pay for insurances or adequate flood protection for their homes. The EEA analysis also shows that nearly half of schools and hospitals in European cities are within intense urban heat islands, and every tenth European school or hospital may be exposed to flooding.
