Serbia needs to urgently devote itself to the systematic planning of a response and devising measures to adapt to changing climatic conditions. No segment of society will be spared. We all have to prepare for a future in which higher average temperatures and extreme weather conditions will be our everyday reality
We will remember this year for the hottest June on record and a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, as well as forest fires in Canada and Greece. In Serbia, this July was the fifth warmest July since records began, since 1951 to be precise. The temperature rise during this month was up to +2.8°C. In short, the territory of Serbia is warming faster than the global and European average, which compels us to conclude that, on average, our country is more exposed to climate change than the rest of the world.
Extreme changes to the weather are leading to ever-greater losses in countries worldwide, but just how much damage is sustained will depend not only on climate change itself, but also on our willingness to adapt to that change. For example, the ratio between losses and damage caused by extreme weather events in Serbia and the EU provides an indirect indication of the lack of adaptation capacity in Serbia compared to the EU and its member states. In our Focus feature for this month, experts present their views on what awaits us and why it is important to make timely invest in adaptation capacities.