Rising sea levels due to climate change will cost Europe up to 872 billion euros by 2100. Among the most affected areas are Emilia-Romagna and Veneto for Italy, along with coastal regions of Poland, North-Western France, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Baltics.
This is what is stated in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports and led by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, in which the European Institute for Economics and the Environment in Milan and the Ca' Foscari University of Venice also participated. .
According to the authors, the results highlight the need for specific economic policies for each region, in order to address the possible impacts of rising waters and limit the damage.
Researchers led by Ignasi Cortés Arbués simulated the potential economic impacts of sea level rise for 271 European regions between now and 2100, in a scenario that involves high levels of polluting emissions and no new coastal protection measures.
For their model, they combined previously obtained data on the predicted impacts and economic losses caused by 155 flood events that occurred across Europe between 1995 and 2016. The results indicate up to €872 billion in damage for Europe and United Kingdom, but with notable differences between the different regions: Italy will be among the most affected countries, but the more internal ones such as Germany, Austria and Hungary will instead record economic gains.
According to the researchers, this may be due to the transfer of production from inundated coastal regions to inland ones.
The data also shows that targeted investments in the logistics, utilities and construction sectors could mitigate economic losses, with a negligible cost to the overall European economy.
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