Extreme weather events are nature's warning that we must change our way of life in order to prevent further global warming, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Adria warned on Friday.

“The unprecedented storm that ravaged the region, taking lives and causing enormous damage, is a warning that we can expect these kinds of extreme weather events to become more common in the future. The consequences of global warming are present here and now. Scientists and experts have been warning about them for a long time, but there are no systemic solutions in sight,” WWF Adria said in a press release.

The Nature Restoration Act was barely passed recently in the European Parliament, which is further proof of a lack of political will on the side of the decision makers and economies to go through decarbonisation and transformation, and both are necessary if we want to conserve what natural resources we have left, and with them the planet for our descendants, the NGO added.

“Even though it is one of the crucial parts of the EU Green Deal, it was barely passed amid a strong misinformation campaign waged by conservative and right-wing politicians, as well as some economy lobbies,” WWF Adria claimed.

They said that the EU was founded on the idea of compromise of interests among all member countries, but that there should be no compromise when it comes to nature and the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.

“How many human lives need to be lost? What price of material damage are we willing to pay before we realise that we must prevent further global warming, take a step towards serious decarbonisation, protect nature? We all need to participate in this transformation in equal measure,” said Natasa Kalauz, the CEO of WWF Adria.

And yet, investments into fossil fuel industries have gone up and we are choking on plastic – we ill soon have more plastic in the sea than fish, Kalauz warned.

“We need to dramatically cut back on our dependence on fossil fuels which pollute the environment and we need to speed up the process of transition to renewable energy sources. We must change the way we get energy, the way we travel, the amount of resources we spend, the way we produce food and what we eat,” she said.

Decarbonisation of economies is necessary, as is transition to circular economy which is not marked by hunger for endless growth, she said. All our efforts must go towards transitioning to a sustainable economy and a life in balance with nature, Kalauz concluded.