Adaptation to climate change: white paper

The Commission presented a new working document to the Agriculture and Fisheries Council about adapting policy to the pressures resulting from climate change on 13 July. The paper aims to engage Member States and farmers in a debate about the ways in which agriculture will need to adapt to changing climatic conditions. The paper states that climatic variations will have consequences for the availability of water resources and the quality of soil, and in some regions increase the risk of flooding. The paper, which was subsequently debated in Council and in an Ad Hoc Working Group in Bonn in August, focuses on research avenues that will support changing agricultural conditions, financing the necessary changes and the legal framework for agriculture in Europe.

The White Paper can be found here:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/sec/2009/0417/COM_SEC(2009)0417_EN.pdf