Addressing climate risks: The EU policy landscape on adaptation
The most updated and comprehensive document regarding the European legal framework on climate change adaptation. A journey into how plans and strategies work on both a national stage and how they differ or compare across borders. The report by the European Topic Centre on Climate change adaptation and LULUCF (ETC CA), provides a deeper understanding of the current adaptation policy landscape in EEA member and cooperating countries across the four dimensions of the adaptation cycle. Involving CMCC researcher Katie Johnson, the report helps inform the upcoming amendment of the EU climate law, preparation of the first European Climate Adaptation Plan, and the second European Climate Risk Assessment.
European countries are increasingly engaging in climate adaptation to address the growing and varied impacts of climate change. All 38 European Environment Agency (EEA) member and cooperating countries have adopted national adaptation policy addressing climate change impacts, demonstrating broad commitment to enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
These vary from climate laws to other types of legislation addressing adaptation to strategic frameworks like national adaptation strategies and plans, reflecting diverse approaches to climate adaptation across Europe.
Although all these efforts are indicative of a strong commitment to climate resilience, they also reveal a diverse and increasingly complex policy landscape across Europe which is reflected in the ongoing discussions on the expected amendment to the EU climate law, the preparation of the first European Climate Adaptation Plan, and the second European Climate Risk Assessment.
“We talk a lot about national adaptation policies – strategies, plans and increasingly climate laws in Europe, without always understanding how they work in a national setting or how they differ or compare across national contexts,” says CMCC researcher Katie Johnson, who contributed to the conceptualization, research and writing of the recent ETC-CA Report 2/2024. “With this work we were able to dive a bit deeper into policy documents, explore their contents, and better understand the adaptation process through interviews with national experts on adaptation.”
EEA member and contributing countries. Source: European Environment Agency
Legal provisions for adaptation are present in many countries, with 18 (of the 38 EEA member and cooperating countries) having dedicated national climate laws that include adaptation elements. Climate risk assessments are one of the elements often required by regulations, making them increasingly central to national adaptation policies, with integration of climate risk assessment into the adaptation policy cycle evident, whereas connections with monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems remain limited.
“This is important as monitoring, evaluation and learning is used to track adaptation progress, identify challenges, and feed into revision of adaptation policies,” says Johnson. “Yet, challenges remain, particularly in integrating monitoring, evaluation and learning systems to ensure adaptation actions lead to meaningful risk reduction and increased resilience.”
The report looks into the diverse and increasingly complex adaptation policy landscape across Europe with a special focus on countries with legal provisions for adaptation, exploring their defining characteristics and how they operate within national contexts. It provides a deeper understanding of the adaptation policy frameworks and instruments and suggests a need for continued efforts to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of adaptation policies through robust legal mandates and improved governance structures.