Figure 2: Aggregate potential impact on climate change at NUTS2 level1
To avoid the most serious risks of climate change, the Parties to the UNFCCC agreed to limit the rise of global mean temperature to below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels. The EU supports this goal. ‘The impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed — the poorest countries and people will suffer earliest and most. And if and when the damages appear, it will be too late to reverse the process. Thus we are forced to look a long way ahead.’ (Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change)2
1
ESPON Climate Change and Territorial Effects on Regions and Local Economies Applied Research Project 2013/1/4: http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/Documents/Projects/AppliedResearch/CLIMATE/ESPON_Climate_Final_ReportAnnex9_Indicators.pdf 2 Stern, Nicholas, ed. The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
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