HANS BRUYNINCKX: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR WILL ALSO NEED TO CHANGE
Europe needs to reshape its agricultural sector, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) warned on Wednesday, as climate change could halve production of cereals in southern Europe pushing food prices higher. Extreme weather events such as the heatwaves Europe experienced this summer have resulted in huge economic losses for farmers in the European Union which look set to continue, the EEA report states. "New records are being set around the world due to climate change and the adverse effects of this change are already affecting agricultural production in Europe, especially in the south," EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx said in a new report. Projections using a high-end emission scenario estimate that yields of crops like wheat, corn and sugar beet could decrease by up to 50% in southern Europe by 2050. This would result in a substantial loss of income for farmers in the affected areas and also lead to a massive 80% decrease in the value of farmland by 2100...