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We need to anticipate the actual and expected effects of climate change and take appropriate action to prevent or minimise the impacts. Strategies and actions are needed at the local, national, transnational and EU levels. Actions include technological measures, ecosystem-based measures and measures addressing behavioural changes.
The EU strategy on adaptation to climate change aims to make Europe more climate-resilient. It complements the activities of Member States, supporting action by promoting greater coordination and information sharing, and by ensuring that adaptation considerations are addressed in all relevant EU policies and funding programmes. The strategy encourages all Member States to adopt comprehensive adaptation strategies, supports action in cities and promotes better informed decision making through developing and sharing knowledge, including through the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT).
The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into EU sectoral policies and EU funds is promoted for agriculture, biodiversity, buildings, coastal management, disaster risk reduction, ecosystem-based adaptation, energy, financing, forestry, health, marine and fisheries, transport, and urban and water management.
The European Commission’s evaluation of the EU Adaptation Strategy finds that the strategy has delivered on its objectives to promote action by Member States, ‘climate-proof’ action at the EU level and support better-informed decision-making. The EEA contributed to the evaluation of the EU Adaptation Strategy, including through a detailed evaluation of the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT).
EEA member countries are at different stages of preparing, developing and implementing national adaptation strategies and plans. Almost all of them have adopted their own national adaptation strategy and many have developed adaptation plans.
The European transnational regions are vulnerable to climate change across the wide range of economic sectors and natural ecosystems that they encompass. Their exposure and sensitivity are affected by non-climatic drivers, such as changing land use patterns and population change.
All European regions have already experienced the negative impacts of climate change and they are likely to be even more affected in the future. Specific adaptation strategies exist for four macro-national regions: the Baltic Sea, Danube, Alpine, and Adriatic and Ionian regions. Other transnational regions have developed common specific transnational adaptation strategies or action plans, but the level of implementation varies.
Climate change will influence the environment, economy and society in cities and towns, raising new challenges for urban planning and management. Such climate change impacts on cities have repercussions far beyond municipal borders. Adaptation actions are taken by an increasing number of cities and municipalities, supported through the EU funded Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and other city networks.
The Global Goal on Adaptation aims to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change. Given the impact of climate-related hazards, the question is not whether adaptation is necessary, but what are the adaptation options to increase resilience.
Europe’s border regions and maritime areas, like its Arctic and the Mediterranean regions, are facing negative impacts due to climate change. Countries responsible for these transnational areas are already taking action to adapt to changes in weather and climate extreme events (e.g. increased heat waves or heavy rainfalls). This briefing gives an up-to-date overview of how European countries are working together to adapt to climate change impacts in these shared regions, some of which are considered climate change ‘hot spots’ because they are most vulnerable to dramatic changes.
This report provides the first systematic review of national climate change impact, vulnerability and risk assessments across Europe. It is based on information about relevant multi-sectoral assessments reported from EEA member countries. The purpose of the report is to share experiences and knowledge and to highlight approaches and practical solutions that countries have used to produce and present their assessments.
This report provides new insights into adaptation monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems at the national level in Europe and constitutes the first attempt to consolidate emerging information across European countries. It aims to offer reliable and targeted information to support the effective and efficient implementation of climate adaptation policies and actions at the national level in Europe.
As adaptation policy progresses in Europe, it is increasingly important, that people have access to relevant and high quality information. A broad range of users consider web-based adaptation platforms an effective means of collecting and sharing experiences and knowledge to interested stakeholders including policymakers, practioners and the general public. The report provides an overview on the state of play of most adaptation platform in Europe including 14 national adaptation platforms. It offers information on the scope, history, targeted users, the selection and presentation of knowledge, the links to other topics, scales and platforms as well as the monitoring and evaluation of the platforms. It also analyses existing and potential links of the platforms to climate services and Disaster risk reduction (DRR) platforms.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate-change-adaptation/adaptation-policies/adaptation-policies or scan the QR code.
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