Climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Europe

Climate change has already negatively affected the agriculture sector in Europe, and this will continue in the future. This report provides an overview of climate change impacts and adaptation in the agriculture sector and addresses the links between climate change and the agriculture sector in Europe. The focus is on crop farming and livestock, concentrating on food and fodder production and mostly excluding aspects of agroforestry and agro ecology.

Chapter 1 is an introduction, while Chapter 2 presents the main policy framework at the international and EU level that drives, and potentially hampers, adaptation in the agriculture sector. The third chapter presents pressures arising from the sector on climate change by giving an overview of GHG between 1990 and 2016, air pollutant emissions between 2000 and 2016, and the outlook for the 2030s and 2050s. Chapter 4 addresses key physical and economic impacts in Europe and outside Europe, with their effects on European agriculture. Chapter 5 describes solutions — programmes and measures — for adapting to climate change. It also addresses co-benefits with climate change mitigation and other socio-economic sectors, including biodiversity. Finally, the way forward for policy developments and knowledge gaps is presented in the sixth chapter.