Western and Central Europe: people at risk of water scarcity - high adaptation
Risk of water scarcity in Western and Central Europe with high adaptation, including cascading impacts beyond the water sector (such as agriculture, energy and shipping). [13.10.2.3]
Undetectable to moderate (white to yellow) |
min |
1.5
|
medium confidence
|
max |
2.5
|
There is currently an adaptation deficit that can be addressed. There is a high potential for water efficiency improvements and water savings. Regulations, pricing and taxation can help in achieving water demand reductions. [Table SM13.29, Figure 13.31(b), 13.2.2.2].
Moderate to high (yellow to red) |
min |
3.0
|
medium confidence
|
max |
4.0
|
There is considerable potential for investment in large water infrastructure and advanced technologies (including storage), water transfer (with potential distributional impacts), water recycling and reuse (requiring time for infrastructure development), and desalination (albeit with adverse effects on the environment and energy demand). [13.10.2.3, table SM13.29 , and figure 13.31(b)]
Under high global warming, a large portfolio of measures is needed to sufficiently reduce risk to water scarcity [Figure 13.31(b)].
In Eastern Europe, uncertainty about changes in water scarcity pose distinct challenges for adaptation. [13.2.1.2.2]
Note: The fact that the risks are lower in Western and Central Europe (WCE) as compared to southern Europe probably contributes to the reduced amount of information specifically related to WCE, including about the effectiveness of adaptation options at different warming levels. Some of the text provided here, and how it is placed with regard to the risk transitions, reflects our understanding of the report, beyond the exact original wording. Due to the limited information specific to regions and warming levels, the explanations provided here for the transitions may still be incomplete. The confidence levels reflect figure 13.31 as well as the errata available from ipcc.ch regarding table SM13.29.
This information was filled on the basis of AR6 by Philippe Marbaix in April 2025. Comments are welcome.
water scarcity, humans, RKR-G
Table SM13.29
Bednar-Friedl., B., R. Biesbroek, D.N. Schmidt, P. Alexander, K Yngve Børsheim, J. Carnicer, E. Georgopoulou, M. Haasnoot, G Le Cozannet, P. Lionello, O. Lipka, C. Möllmann, V. Muccione, T. Mustonen, D Piepenburg, L Whitmarsh, 2022: Europe. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [Pörtner, H.-O., D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1817-1927. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009325844.015
Alternative direct download: www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter13.pdf
Data and additional information are usually obtained from the supplementary material (SM):
Bednar-Friedl., B., R. Biesbroek, D.N. Schmidt, P. Alexander, K Yngve Børsheim, J. Carnicer, E. Georgopoulou, M. Haasnoot, G Le Cozannet, P. Lionello, O. Lipka, C. Möllmann, V. Muccione, T. Mustonen, D Piepenburg, L Whitmarsh, 2022: Europe Supplementary Material. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [Pörtner, H.-O., D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)], url: www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter13_SM.pdf
Disclaimer: The Embers Explorer project is not affiliated with the IPCC, is not approved or authorized by the IPCC, and is not an IPCC product. The figures presented herein are not IPCC figures, have not been subject to formal IPCC review processes and have not been endorsed by the IPCC. The IPCC does not assume any responsibility for their accuracy.
However, every effort is made to ensure that data resulting from IPCC assessments are accurately represented here, with due reference to sources.
An archive of the database on which this app is based is available on Zenodo (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12626977) under the CC-BY 4.0 license. We have confirmed with the IPCC that this data can be distributed in this way.
Last updated on April 18, 2025, 5:18 p.m..