Europe's chief scientist warns against climate delays

The European Union cannot use the economic slowdown as an excuse to delay action on fighting climate change, the bloc's first-ever chief scientific adviser has warned. Molecular biologist Anne Glover took on the newly created role reporting to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the start of this year, having previously served as chief scientific adviser to Scotland's devolved government.
Despite the fact that many EU governments are slashing their public budgets in an attempt to reduce debt levels, and industry is warning against the cost of climate policies, Glover said Europe cannot afford to postpone action to cut emissions.
"It has been extremely disappointing to see many member states cut back on their emission reduction efforts because they say 'we're going through a recession'," she said. "Make no mistake, if we had unabated man-made climate change, we would go through an absolutely horrible period of conflict and migration, until the world's population started diminishing very rapidly."
As Europe's leaders begin to switch their focus from spending cuts to boosting growth and jobs, constraints on natural resources also mean that the EU cannot just spend its way out of recession as it has in the past.
"The simplest way to think about increasing jobs is to make more stuff and get people to buy more stuff. But my point is that we can't do that, because we're running out of resources," Glover said.
She pointed to estimates from scientists and campaigners that if EU consumption patterns were adopted globally, the equivalent of almost three planets would be needed to keep pace with the current rates of resource depletion.
"We have to think about alternative ways of using science, engineering and technology to live on the planet in a way that's rewarding but that uses less resources. I think it's the biggest challenge for humans."
She sees her appointment, which followed a 2009 pledge by Barroso to improve the way the EU gathers and uses scientific advice, as a positive step in the right direction.
"If you look at President Barroso's advisers, currently most of them are economists, and that is understandable. But now he has a scientist there too, which was something he decided, and I think that is very healthy."
Various industry sectors in Europe are currently lobbying against EU policy on emissions and other measures to combat climate change policies, from airlines and shipping companies to energy utilities and aluminium producers. Glover said she could understand why industries often seek to oppose new regulations, but doing so was ultimately counterproductive.
"Industry is often trying to buy time, that's why they prevaricate, and you can understand that for commercial reasons. But they're also setting back their ability to profit first from the opportunity, by only thinking about what they're protecting."