BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – Europe must prepare both for more floods and drought caused by climate change, regardless of the measures taken to combat it, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas warned last Wednesday.

“Even if we have zero emissions, it is simply impossible to reverse climate change overnight,” Dimas warned, as he unveiled a new report on what Europe should do to deal with its effects. “Urgent action is therefore necessary to make our people… resilient to the inevitable impact of climate change.”

Europe would suffer “more regular flooding… more frequent droughts, more stress on infrastructure and ecosystems”, he warned.

Dimas cited water shortages already suffered in 14 EU nations since 1998; and 100 major cases of flooding which left some 700 people dead and half a million displaced and a total of 25 billion euros of water damage.

EU nations have agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels, rising to 30 per cent if the rest of the developed world agrees to do so.

But those efforts could be insufficient in achieving the overall aim of keeping global warming to two degrees centigrade or less, Dimas admitted: recent studies suggest the situation was moving quicker than previously thought.

Scientists meeting in Copenhagen last week stressed that even with a 30 per cent decrease in greenhouse gases the impact of climate would accelerate faster than previously predicted.

The key Copenhagen meeting will take place in December when nations around the world gather to seek agreement on how to tackle the problem.

So far, no other country had committed to the kind of measures the European Union had adopted, said Dimas.

But he welcomed new US plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, even if they too fell far short of Europe’s targets.

“This is really very encouraging,” Dimas said. “I am even more optimistic in getting an agreement in Copenhagen (in December).”

Last Tuesday, the US House of Representatives started considering a draft bill for clean energy development which aims to cut carbon emissions by 20 per cent from their 2005 levels by 2020 and boost reliance on renewable energy sources.

Such US targets were unheard of before President Barack Obama took over from George W Bush in January. But they still represent only a five to six per cent reduction using the EU’s baseline, said Dimas.

The EU blueprint unveiled last Wednesday outlined measures, including a clearing house mechanism for exchanging information on climate change risks, impacts and best practice.