This Monday, the European Commission acknowledged the economic impact of extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods in southern European countries such as Portugal, especially on tourism, calling for action to combat climate change.
“Of course, there is an impact on the economy, and the impact is direct. People are affected, territories are affected, there are costs for the reconstruction of entire areas in different countries, and there are also several indirect impacts on the economy, also depending on the areas that are affected and their characteristics, and this is something that has affected a certain number of European countries.” , said European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on the day the community leader released summer economic forecasts, and in response to a question from Lusa, the official explained that “recently, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, […] but in the recent past, Belgium, Germany and other countries have suffered from phenomena such as heat waves prone to forest fires, floods caused by high rainfall, among others.