According to a report published by the European Environment Agency earlier this month, 12 per cent of Europe's population lives in areas at risk of flooding.
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00:00 Pepinster in eastern Belgium still bears the scars of dramatic floods that hit in July
00:08 2021. Images from the flooding shocked the European Union as the same torrential rain
00:15 and flooding also impacted Germany and the Netherlands.
00:22 The toll was particularly high, with 240 deaths and around 50 billion euros in damages. For
00:29 the mayor of Pepinster, this extreme weather event served as a catalyst to wake up to the
00:34 consequences of climate change.
00:36 "I think we are only at the beginning and we absolutely have to take a whole series
00:48 of much more important measures, I would say much more fundamental and structural, so
00:54 that we can face this phenomenon. We must start with everything that is land development,
01:00 the development of the banks, I would say, of the rivers, and also I think that everything
01:07 that is here, the mudflats, which are really the sponge of the region in case of rain,
01:16 the mudflats must be reworked so that they play this role again."
01:24 In a report published this month, the European Environment Agency sounded the alarm that
01:29 12% of Europe's population lives in areas at risk. These extreme phenomena are likely
01:41 to multiply and intensify in the future.
01:48 "There are two main things, effectively, financial resources. It also means that in
01:55 the European financial framework, all adaptation policies must be integrated. Countries must
01:59 massively invest in adaptation policies. That's one thing. And then another thing is
02:05 practical changes, the implementation of solutions based on nature. That's what's most effective.
02:11 And so it doesn't necessarily cost more, but it's really model changes, changes
02:15 in the state of mind, almost cultural changes."
02:18 According to the European Environment Agency, flooding could intensify mainly in northwestern
02:24 Europe and in the center of the continent.
02:25 -END-
02:30 (whooshing)