2. European Union

European Union

A Green Deal for Europe

The European Green Deal [announced in December 2019 (COM/2019/640 final)] outlines the European Commission's plan for a transition to sustainability. Among its objectives, it aims for the EU to be climate-neutral by 2050; to protect human life, animals, and plants by reducing pollution; to help businesses become global leaders in clean products and technologies; and to ensure a just and inclusive transition.

European Climate Risk Assessment

The European Environment Agency (EEA) will publish the first European climate risk assessment in March 2024, the European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), which aims to help identify policy priorities for climate change adaptation and climate-sensitive sectors.

According to this assessment, adaptation policies and measures in Europe are not keeping pace with the rapidly increasing risks.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the 36 most significant climate risks identified threaten energy and food security, ecosystems, infrastructure, water resources, financial stability, and human health.

Certain European regions are particularly exposed to multiple climate risks. Southern Europe is especially at risk from wildfires, heat effects, and water shortages affecting agriculture, outdoor work, and human health. Meanwhile, flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion pose threats to low-lying European coastal regions, particularly many densely populated cities.

The EUCRA report builds on and complements existing knowledge on climate impacts and risks for Europe, including recent reports from the IPCC, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), as well as findings from research projects and national climate risk assessments. Despite significant advances in understanding these risks and efforts to address them, the study concludes that European societies remain insufficiently prepared, as policy implementation lags behind the rapidly increasing risk levels, which in many cases are already critical and could become catastrophic if urgent and decisive action is not taken.

European Climate Adaptation Strategy (2021)

In 2021, the European Commission published the new European Climate Adaptation Strategy (COM/2021/82 final), as part of the measures set out in the European Green Deal to increase the EU's climate ambition for 2030 and 2050. This strategy aims to prepare the EU-27 for the inevitable effects of climate change and provide a response to the growing vulnerability to a crisis we are already experiencing.

Building on the previous European Climate Adaptation Strategy (2013), the new strategy aims to move from understanding risks to developing solutions and from planning to implementing measures to advance towards a climate-neutral, adapted, and resilient Europe by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement and the EU Climate Law.

The strategy seeks to promote smarter, faster, and more systemic adaptive capacity:

  • Smarter: We need better knowledge of risks to plan more effectively. Adaptation actions must be based on solid data and risk assessment tools that are accessible to all.
  • Faster: The effects of climate change are already being felt, so we must adapt more quickly and intensively across all sectors and areas, including insurance, infrastructure, agriculture, and tourism.
  • Systemic: Climate change affects all levels of society and every sector of the economy, so adaptation actions must also be systemic. Climate resilience must be integrated into all relevant policy areas, with three priorities: incorporating adaptation into fiscal policy; nature-based solutions for adaptation; and local adaptation strategies.

The strategy also calls for strengthening certain mechanisms, such as monitoring and assessing impacts and risks, improving reporting on adaptation actions by Member States, and using shared indicators to track the evolving challenges posed by climate change.

Relevant references:

First European Climate Adaptation Strategy (2013)

The European Climate Adaptation Strategy, adopted in 2013, aimed to increase the resilience of the EU territory by improving the preparedness and response capacity of all levels of administration to address the effects of climate change.

The Strategy outlined the following three objectives:

  • Encourage Member States to adopt comprehensive adaptation strategies, providing financial resources to help them strengthen their adaptive capacity and take action. One of the relevant initiatives was the promotion of the Covenant of Mayors, the world's largest movement of cities for local climate and energy action.
  • Reduce the impact of climate change by promoting adaptation in key vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and cohesion policy, strengthening European infrastructure, and promoting insurance against natural and man-made disasters.
  • Improve decision-making by addressing knowledge gaps in adaptation and developing the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT), a free-access tool for users to access and share data and information on adaptation.

The European Commission published the Strategy's evaluation report in November 2018 [COM(2018) 738 final], which presents lessons learned and reflections on improvements for future action, accompanied by a detailed evaluation document [COM(2018) 461 final].

According to the analysis, the strategy has achieved its objectives, with progress recorded in each of the eight defined action lines. However, it is noted that Europe remains vulnerable to the effects of climate change occurring within and outside its borders, and areas are identified where further efforts are needed to prepare vulnerable regions and sectors.

Furthermore, the European Environment Agency's report "Climate Change, Impacts, and Vulnerability in Europe 2016", updated every four years since 2004, highlighted how observed changes in the climate were already having far-reaching impacts on ecosystems, the economy, and human health and well-being in Europe. This latest edition from 2016 supported the process of reviewing the 2013 EU Climate Adaptation Strategy and developing national and transnational adaptation strategies and plans.

Relevant references on climate change and its consequences for Europe:

Climate-ADAPT

The European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT) is a joint initiative of the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The EEA manages Climate-ADAPT with the support of the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation and LULUCF (ETC CA).

The overall design and maintenance system of Climate-ADAPT were established to support the platform’s five main objectives and to meet the needs of its target audience.

Climate-ADAPT Objectives:

  1. Provide reliable data and information. Climate-ADAPT offers trustworthy, accessible, up-to-date, and high-quality knowledge on climate change risks, vulnerability, and adaptation.
  2. Promote solutions for action. Climate-ADAPT provides useful knowledge to ensure that adaptation planning, policies, and practices are better informed.
  3. Empower action at multiple levels. Climate-ADAPT supports more coherent and effective adaptation policies across all levels of governance and all policy sectors in Europe.
  4. Strengthen regional and community resilience. Climate-ADAPT directly supports knowledge-sharing for at least 150 European regions and communities under the EU Mission on Climate Adaptation, aiming to achieve climate resilience by 2030.
  5. Support international action and adaptation exchanges. Climate-ADAPT facilitates cooperation and knowledge-sharing on climate adaptation with third countries at all levels.

Climate-ADAPT provides users with data and information on:

  • Projected climate change in Europe
  • Current and future vulnerability of regions and sectors
  • EU, national, and transnational adaptation strategies and actions
  • Case studies and potential adaptation options
  • Tools to support adaptation planning

Climate-ADAPT structures its information into the following main sections:

  • EU Policy: EU Adaptation Policy; Adaptation in 19 EU sectoral policies; EU Regional Policy; Key EU Actions (European Climate Risk Assessment, Just Resilience, Nature-Based Solutions)
  • Countries, Transnational Regions, Cities
  • Knowledge, including subsections: Topics, Tools, Data and Indicators (with a dedicated Database Explorer), Case Studies, Research and Innovation Projects, and the European Climate and Health Observatory.
  • Networks

Among the resources Climate-ADAPT offers policymakers, the following tools stand out to support the development of adaptation strategies and plans: