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Romania
National circumstances relevant to adaptation actions
Romania is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe, covering a total area of 238,397 km2. The country is crossed from north to the southwest by the Carpathian Mountains (peak altitude of 2,544 m). The Danube, the second-longest river of Europe, flows from west towards east along 2,857 km, bordering the country in its southern part and flowing further into the Black Sea, forming the second-largest and best preserved delta of Europe (the Danube Delta – a biosphere reservation and a biodiversity World Heritage site). Romania’s relief major units are proportionally distributed, being estimated to: 35% mountains, 35% hills and plateaus and 30% plains. The climate of Romania is temperate-continental with influences of the Atlantic Ocean in the western and central parts of the country, the Mediterranean Sea in the South-West, the Scandinavian-Baltic region in the north-east and east, Black Sea in the east and transitional between the oceanic and continental in the south.
Under the Köppen classification, the climate types found across the Romanian territory are:
1. Tundra climate (ET), characteristic to the alpine areas (above 2,000-2,200 m) of the Southern Carpathians;
2. Subarctic continental climate (Dfc), with a cold summer and no dry season; this climate type is specific to high elevation areas (1,700 to 2,000 m) of the Eastern, Southern and Western Carpathians;
3. Humid continental climate (Dfb), without a dry season and with a warm summer; this climate type is well represented in the Eastern Carpathians (especially in the areas below 1700-1800 m), in the eastern parts of the Transylvanian Depression, but is also specific to some low elevation areas of the Southern and Western (e.g. the Apuseni Mountains) Carpathians;
4. Temperate (oceanic) climate (Cfb), without a dry season and with a warm summer; this type of climate is representative for the western hilly regions of the country, as well as for the Transylvanian Depression, the Moldavian Plateau and the Subcarpathians;
5. Humid subtropical temperate climate (Cfa), similar to Cfb, but with a hot summer; this climate type is specific to the Romanian Plain, some parts of the Western Plain and to the Dobrogea Tableland;
6. Cold semi-arid climate (Bsk), with a hot and dry summer and a cold winter; it is specific to the Danube Delta, as well as to the Razim-Sinoe lagunar complex.
Due to its geographical position within Europe, large parts of the Romanian territory belong to the vast Euro-Siberian subregion of the Palearctic realm, whereas other parts of the country (such as Dobrogea and the eastern part of the Romanian Plain) pertain to the south-western sector of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Overall, the basic floristic stock of Romania consists of Eurasian, European and Central European elements, with added species belonging to 5 out of the 11 biogeographical regions of Europe respectively, continental (53%), alpine (23%), steppe (17%), Pannonian (6%), Pontic (1%).
In Romania, the natural and semi-natural ecosystems represent about a half of the country's territory, whereas the other half comprises agriculture ecosystems, constructions and infrastructure. The major types of natural ecosystems found in Romania include: forest ecosystems, ecosystems of meadows, freshwater and brackish ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems and underground (cave) ecosystems.
The climate of Romania is changing and becoming more extreme. Observational data over the 1901-2020 period (from 29 weather stations with long-term time series) provide evidence of an ongoing warming at both annual (with 1.3°C over the entire period) and seasonal (especially in summer, winter and spring) timescales. An increasing frequency and duration of hot extremes (such as tropical days and nights, heat waves) was also observed throughout the country. The warmest year in record was 2019 (with an average temperature of 12.1°C) and the coldest 1940 (with an average temperature of 8.1°C). The year 2020 is the second warmest year over the period 1901-2020 (with an average temperature of 11.9 °C). The absolute minimum temperature record of Romania is of -38.5°C/January 25th, 1942 (at Bod, in the Bra?ov Depression), whereas the absolute maximum temperature record reached 44.5°C/August 10th, 1951 (at Ion Sion, in the Baragan Plain). In terms of precipitation, the observed trends over the 1901-2020 period show no major changes in the annual amount of precipitation. At seasonal scale, some regions of Romania (e.g. the Transylvanian Depression, the Apuseni Mountains) exhibit an increase in autumn precipitation, whereas others (such as the Danube Delta, the Banat Region) show decreases in winter and spring. The highest annual precipitation amount ever recorded in Romania was of 2,398.0 mm/1941 at Vf. Omu station (2,504 m a.s.l., in the Bucegi Mountains), while the largest monthly precipitation was of 588.4 mm/June 2011 at Bâlea Lac station (2,100 m a.s.l., in the Fagara? Mountains). The record of the maximum daily precipitation amount at national level reached 224.0 mm/ July 12th , 1999 at Stâna de Vale (1108 m a.s.l., in the Apuseni Mountains). The wettest year in Romania over the 1901-2020 was 2005 (861.2 mm) and the driest 2000 (391.4 mm).
Under the Köppen classification, the climate types found across the Romanian territory are:
1. Tundra climate (ET), characteristic to the alpine areas (above 2,000-2,200 m) of the Southern Carpathians;
2. Subarctic continental climate (Dfc), with a cold summer and no dry season; this climate type is specific to high elevation areas (1,700 to 2,000 m) of the Eastern, Southern and Western Carpathians;
3. Humid continental climate (Dfb), without a dry season and with a warm summer; this climate type is well represented in the Eastern Carpathians (especially in the areas below 1700-1800 m), in the eastern parts of the Transylvanian Depression, but is also specific to some low elevation areas of the Southern and Western (e.g. the Apuseni Mountains) Carpathians;
4. Temperate (oceanic) climate (Cfb), without a dry season and with a warm summer; this type of climate is representative for the western hilly regions of the country, as well as for the Transylvanian Depression, the Moldavian Plateau and the Subcarpathians;
5. Humid subtropical temperate climate (Cfa), similar to Cfb, but with a hot summer; this climate type is specific to the Romanian Plain, some parts of the Western Plain and to the Dobrogea Tableland;
6. Cold semi-arid climate (Bsk), with a hot and dry summer and a cold winter; it is specific to the Danube Delta, as well as to the Razim-Sinoe lagunar complex.
Due to its geographical position within Europe, large parts of the Romanian territory belong to the vast Euro-Siberian subregion of the Palearctic realm, whereas other parts of the country (such as Dobrogea and the eastern part of the Romanian Plain) pertain to the south-western sector of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Overall, the basic floristic stock of Romania consists of Eurasian, European and Central European elements, with added species belonging to 5 out of the 11 biogeographical regions of Europe respectively, continental (53%), alpine (23%), steppe (17%), Pannonian (6%), Pontic (1%).
In Romania, the natural and semi-natural ecosystems represent about a half of the country's territory, whereas the other half comprises agriculture ecosystems, constructions and infrastructure. The major types of natural ecosystems found in Romania include: forest ecosystems, ecosystems of meadows, freshwater and brackish ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems and underground (cave) ecosystems.
The climate of Romania is changing and becoming more extreme. Observational data over the 1901-2020 period (from 29 weather stations with long-term time series) provide evidence of an ongoing warming at both annual (with 1.3°C over the entire period) and seasonal (especially in summer, winter and spring) timescales. An increasing frequency and duration of hot extremes (such as tropical days and nights, heat waves) was also observed throughout the country. The warmest year in record was 2019 (with an average temperature of 12.1°C) and the coldest 1940 (with an average temperature of 8.1°C). The year 2020 is the second warmest year over the period 1901-2020 (with an average temperature of 11.9 °C). The absolute minimum temperature record of Romania is of -38.5°C/January 25th, 1942 (at Bod, in the Bra?ov Depression), whereas the absolute maximum temperature record reached 44.5°C/August 10th, 1951 (at Ion Sion, in the Baragan Plain). In terms of precipitation, the observed trends over the 1901-2020 period show no major changes in the annual amount of precipitation. At seasonal scale, some regions of Romania (e.g. the Transylvanian Depression, the Apuseni Mountains) exhibit an increase in autumn precipitation, whereas others (such as the Danube Delta, the Banat Region) show decreases in winter and spring. The highest annual precipitation amount ever recorded in Romania was of 2,398.0 mm/1941 at Vf. Omu station (2,504 m a.s.l., in the Bucegi Mountains), while the largest monthly precipitation was of 588.4 mm/June 2011 at Bâlea Lac station (2,100 m a.s.l., in the Fagara? Mountains). The record of the maximum daily precipitation amount at national level reached 224.0 mm/ July 12th , 1999 at Stâna de Vale (1108 m a.s.l., in the Apuseni Mountains). The wettest year in Romania over the 1901-2020 was 2005 (861.2 mm) and the driest 2000 (391.4 mm).
Romania has a population of 20 million people and GDP of 189 billion US dollars. The Annual Average Losses (AALs) are estimated to be approximately 2.2 billion US$ and 335,000 affected people for the whole country, which are 1.2% of the GDP and 1.7% of the population of Romania.
Officially, the urbanization rate in Romania is roughly 55%, a level that is somewhat low compared to other parts of Europe. This rate has remained fairly constant for the past two decades, thus mirroring the situation in many other Eastern European countries shifting from a centrally planned economy to free market conditions.
Recent research by the World Bank has pointed out, however, Romania has been suburbanizing, with the areas immediately around major cities growing by 300,000 even as there has been significant migration out of the country entirely. Because central government
demographers still categorize some of these regions outside the urban core as rural, this shift has not yet made its way into the official population statistics. If this were done, the urbanization rate could rise to 65.2%. Population losses and location shifts manifest themselves in changing densification rates in Romania’s growth pole cities while the density levels in these cities are declining across the board, in some cases by as much as 48%. (Source: (https://www.worldbank.org/r[…]carbon-green-growth-program).
Officially, the urbanization rate in Romania is roughly 55%, a level that is somewhat low compared to other parts of Europe. This rate has remained fairly constant for the past two decades, thus mirroring the situation in many other Eastern European countries shifting from a centrally planned economy to free market conditions.
Recent research by the World Bank has pointed out, however, Romania has been suburbanizing, with the areas immediately around major cities growing by 300,000 even as there has been significant migration out of the country entirely. Because central government
demographers still categorize some of these regions outside the urban core as rural, this shift has not yet made its way into the official population statistics. If this were done, the urbanization rate could rise to 65.2%. Population losses and location shifts manifest themselves in changing densification rates in Romania’s growth pole cities while the density levels in these cities are declining across the board, in some cases by as much as 48%. (Source: (https://www.worldbank.org/r[…]carbon-green-growth-program).
The energy sector is the largest emitter of GHG, accounting for 70% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (excluding LULUCF) in Romania. It has also contributed 70% of the overall GHG emissions reduction since 1989. The sector naturally has the full attention for mitigation. Three quarters of the energy sector’s GHG emissions are from power and heat generation and non-transport fuel consumption.
Economic growth and energy consumption in Romania has been decoupled since 1998, and the energy intensity of the economy, measured by primary energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product, has been decreasing.
Romania has substantially lower per-capita energy consumption compared to high-income EU countries. A significant increase in energy demand is expected if the economy continues to grow.
Transport statistics show a marked rise in mode share of private cars and a significant decline in rail mode share of passenger transport. Rail mode share is lower than the EU average, having been above average in 2000. Without intervention to provide better transport alternatives and encourage their use, as car ownership grows, car use is also likely to grow. Reasons for the decline in rail passengers are linked to the decaying state of the Romanian railway system.
The modal split for freight movements in Romania (in terms of ton-km) has also changed in recent years. This shows a marked fall in rail freight mode share in recent years, together with a marked rise in road freight mode share. Also notable is the much larger waterborne freight mode share since 2009.
Urban transport forms a major part of overall transport movements in Romania.
Reduced precipitation, droughts and the associated reduced runoff may affect river navigation on the major waterways such as the Danube. This is something already being seen, according to the Lower Danube River Administration, with reduced water depths, meaning that the number of days requiring implementation of navigation restrictions is increasing.
With a current population of 20 million, the average water availability in Romania amounts to 2000 cubic meters per capita per year. A significant inter-annual variation exists in water resources availability. In the driest years the water availability has fallen to 20 BCM. There is also a significant variation within Romania, with the basins of Jiu, Arges-Vedea, Buzua-Ialomita, Siret, Prut-Barlad, and Dobrogea-Littoral facing the most serious scarcities of water. Currently, water demand is based on industry (67%), agriculture (18%), and municipal (15%) use. Irrigated area in Romania has decreased from 2 million ha in the late 1908s/early 1990s to approx. 0.8 million ha (considered irrigable with functional infrastructure), as economically unviable schemes were closed down.
About 70% of the water supply for domestic use is sourced from surface waters, compared to 95% dependence on surface waters for industrial supply.
Romania’s hydropower potential is estimated at 36 TWh/year, and currently the total installed hydropower capacity amounts to 6,400MW. Hydropower generation accounts for 32% of Romania’s total electricity generation, and 16% of the total energy use.
The total area of agricultural land in Romania is 15.9 million hectares, of which around 13.3 million ha (approximately 56% of total territory) is currently being used. Around 1.5 million ha of utilized agricultural area is covered by economically viable / marginally viable irrigation systems, although only about 800 000 ha is currently functional. Compared to other EU Member States, the ARD (agriculture and rural development) sector in Romania is extensive, occupying 59.8% of total territory and providing a home to 44.9% of the total population. A relatively high proportion of national Gross Added Value (32.4%) and employment (41.5%) is also generated in rural areas.
The ARD sector in Romania is also diverse and complex with much variability in socioeconomic context and human / institutional capacity. Rural areas in Romania are characterized by low quality infrastructure and relatively undeveloped basic services (health and education systems, finance and credit facilities etc.) compared to the urban areas. The ARD sector is comprised of two distinct and clearly defined sub-sectors with: i) around one half of the agricultural land managed by a small number of very large-scale, capital intensive and technologically advanced farms, and; ii) the other half of agricultural land occupied by communities of very small-scale farmers practicing more traditional farming methods and producing goods largely for their own consumption. There are a total of 3.86 million agricultural holdings in Romania, of which 96.6% fall into this “small-scale, subsistence farm” sub-sector. These small farms provide an important socio-economic buffer and basic livelihood for a significant proportion of the rural population. They also have an important role to play in maintaining the vitality of rural communities and providing important social, cultural and environmental services to the wider Romanian society.
Romania’s forests are roughly 27 % of the country land surface . Most of Romania’s forests are secondary forests and are distributed across the mountains, hills, and plains of the country.
The forest sector and wood industry contributed 3.5% of GDP (INS CON 105D), and the forest sector was 7% of national exports. The forest sector is also an important employer in rural areas, formally employing approximately 140,000 people.
There are an estimated 850,000 forest owners in Romania, including individuals, indivisible communes, and churches, owning small and large tracts of forests. Approximately 40% of the area under private ownership is managed by smallholders.
Economic growth and energy consumption in Romania has been decoupled since 1998, and the energy intensity of the economy, measured by primary energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product, has been decreasing.
Romania has substantially lower per-capita energy consumption compared to high-income EU countries. A significant increase in energy demand is expected if the economy continues to grow.
Transport statistics show a marked rise in mode share of private cars and a significant decline in rail mode share of passenger transport. Rail mode share is lower than the EU average, having been above average in 2000. Without intervention to provide better transport alternatives and encourage their use, as car ownership grows, car use is also likely to grow. Reasons for the decline in rail passengers are linked to the decaying state of the Romanian railway system.
The modal split for freight movements in Romania (in terms of ton-km) has also changed in recent years. This shows a marked fall in rail freight mode share in recent years, together with a marked rise in road freight mode share. Also notable is the much larger waterborne freight mode share since 2009.
Urban transport forms a major part of overall transport movements in Romania.
Reduced precipitation, droughts and the associated reduced runoff may affect river navigation on the major waterways such as the Danube. This is something already being seen, according to the Lower Danube River Administration, with reduced water depths, meaning that the number of days requiring implementation of navigation restrictions is increasing.
With a current population of 20 million, the average water availability in Romania amounts to 2000 cubic meters per capita per year. A significant inter-annual variation exists in water resources availability. In the driest years the water availability has fallen to 20 BCM. There is also a significant variation within Romania, with the basins of Jiu, Arges-Vedea, Buzua-Ialomita, Siret, Prut-Barlad, and Dobrogea-Littoral facing the most serious scarcities of water. Currently, water demand is based on industry (67%), agriculture (18%), and municipal (15%) use. Irrigated area in Romania has decreased from 2 million ha in the late 1908s/early 1990s to approx. 0.8 million ha (considered irrigable with functional infrastructure), as economically unviable schemes were closed down.
About 70% of the water supply for domestic use is sourced from surface waters, compared to 95% dependence on surface waters for industrial supply.
Romania’s hydropower potential is estimated at 36 TWh/year, and currently the total installed hydropower capacity amounts to 6,400MW. Hydropower generation accounts for 32% of Romania’s total electricity generation, and 16% of the total energy use.
The total area of agricultural land in Romania is 15.9 million hectares, of which around 13.3 million ha (approximately 56% of total territory) is currently being used. Around 1.5 million ha of utilized agricultural area is covered by economically viable / marginally viable irrigation systems, although only about 800 000 ha is currently functional. Compared to other EU Member States, the ARD (agriculture and rural development) sector in Romania is extensive, occupying 59.8% of total territory and providing a home to 44.9% of the total population. A relatively high proportion of national Gross Added Value (32.4%) and employment (41.5%) is also generated in rural areas.
The ARD sector in Romania is also diverse and complex with much variability in socioeconomic context and human / institutional capacity. Rural areas in Romania are characterized by low quality infrastructure and relatively undeveloped basic services (health and education systems, finance and credit facilities etc.) compared to the urban areas. The ARD sector is comprised of two distinct and clearly defined sub-sectors with: i) around one half of the agricultural land managed by a small number of very large-scale, capital intensive and technologically advanced farms, and; ii) the other half of agricultural land occupied by communities of very small-scale farmers practicing more traditional farming methods and producing goods largely for their own consumption. There are a total of 3.86 million agricultural holdings in Romania, of which 96.6% fall into this “small-scale, subsistence farm” sub-sector. These small farms provide an important socio-economic buffer and basic livelihood for a significant proportion of the rural population. They also have an important role to play in maintaining the vitality of rural communities and providing important social, cultural and environmental services to the wider Romanian society.
Romania’s forests are roughly 27 % of the country land surface . Most of Romania’s forests are secondary forests and are distributed across the mountains, hills, and plains of the country.
The forest sector and wood industry contributed 3.5% of GDP (INS CON 105D), and the forest sector was 7% of national exports. The forest sector is also an important employer in rural areas, formally employing approximately 140,000 people.
There are an estimated 850,000 forest owners in Romania, including individuals, indivisible communes, and churches, owning small and large tracts of forests. Approximately 40% of the area under private ownership is managed by smallholders.
Reporting updated until: 2021-03-02
Climate monitoring
Meteorological observations are synchronized and integrated on a European and on a global level. Romania participates in various fields of climate-related monitoring, on national level and in European and global programmes. Romanian experts exploit observing systems for the monitoring of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) which describe:
• Atmospheric climate (including measurements for some atmospheric constituents such as ozone);
• Black sea climate;
• Terrestrial climate.
In Romania, monitoring activities have been synchronized with the European research area and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) programmes (especially from the Region VI) and with GCOS on global level.
The National Meteorological Administration (NMA) is the main organization which performs systematic observations on atmospheric climate and, to a lesser extent, on parts of sea and terrestrial climate. These observations are gathered, validated and transferred in the National Meteorological Network (NMN). The NMN is organized in 7 Regional Meteorological Centers which consists of 166 operational weather stations, all of them being automatic weather stations (MAWS) and 23 of them are functioning autonomously. Observations at 64 rain gauging stations are made on a voluntary basis. 68 weather stations perform an agrometeorological measurement programme. Radiometric measurements are performed at: 109 weather stations (global radiation); 9 weather stations (diffuse and net radiation); 121 weather stations (effective sunshine duration).
The programme of meteorological upper-air measurements is carried out at the Aerologic
Observatory of Bucharest-Afuma?i, including two daily radio soundings (at 0000 and 1200 UTC). Daily wind soundings with PILOT balloon are also carried out at the station Bucharest Afuma?i at 0600 UTC.
The operational National Meteorological Integrated System (SIMIN) was established in 2003. Within SIMIN the national radar network has been upgraded. Now, the national meteorological radar network consists of 7 Doppler weather radar systems. The radar information from all equipment is combined into a unique product – the national radar mosaic (available in 3 versions every 10 minutes). The radar information from Romanian network is useful for the neighbouring countries, too.
Observations from meteorological satellites refer to receiving and processing in real time digital images and data from geostationary satellites METEOSAT-7 and MASG-1 in 3, and 12 spectral channels, respectively. The operative running of EUMETSAT/SAFNWC model started in February 2005, obtaining 8 of the 12 nowcasting products, every 15 minutes, which are transmitted to the National Forecasting Centre.
Romania contributes to free data exchange under national law (Romanian Law of Meteorology) and international regulations (e.g. ECOMET rules). NMA participates in the international meteorological data exchange with a number of 23 stations in RBSN (Regional Basic Synoptic Network) and 14 stations in RBCN (Regional Basic Climatological Network). Also, NMA has submitted and updated climate data to the portal European Climate Assessment & Dataset (ECA & D) (http://www.ecad.eu/).
In addition to the monitoring activities of the NMA, systematic observations are also recorded by National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management for hydrological-related climate indicators and Black Sea climate. The GeoEcoMar institute performs climate relevant measurements of oceanographic, marine ecosystem and geological indicators in the Black Sea. Institute for Marine Research (Constanta) also performs measurements of climate related indicators of Black Sea climate ecosystems. The GeoEcoMar and Institute for Marine Research contribute to EuroGoos and Black Sea GOOS. National and local agencies for environmental protection gather data related to atmospheric constituents and pollutants.
Climate modelling, projections and scenarios:
A new activity branch of regional climate modelling for high resolution climate projections and climate predictions (monthly- seasonal) has been developed recently in Romania at the NMA.
The main objective is to bring added value fine-scale information on climate projections estimates (and uncertainty) at sub-regional scale, that is the scale needed for impact assessment, preparedness and climate change mitigation. Fine scale is also needed to better represent climate extremes and changes in their location, intensity, frequency and duration. A sum of new climate services based on NMA's regional modeling (high-resolution) products are prepared and still this aspect can be far more exploited in the near-future.
Among the main achievements to date are: - i) a new operational chain of seasonal prediction downscaling at fine resolution for Romania (twice a week - providing monthly forecast and monthly - providing 6 month forecast). The seasonal prediction downscaling chain is fully operational down to visualisation of output uploaded on NAM internal Platform and derived products, offering information-support More research directions are ongoing around these, and potential climate services foreseen; -ii) the realisation of first high-resolution dynamical climate projections for Romania (5km - RCP8.5), accomplished now for the time horizon 2040 (Azure-2 Microsoft project); - iii) user-oriented scenarios for Romania were performed at high resolution: a combined land-use (Volante project) / emission RCP8.5 scenarios was implemented and run to investigate the range of response to land use management in the time horizon 2050 (Azure-1 project); - iv) this year we start developing oriented use of the high-resolution modeling chain towards new climate services. In the frame of PED-Uefiscdi project together with project partners we aim to provide a climate service aiming to identify, validate (laboratory) and provide a generalised tool for assessing maize ideotype suitable for Romania under climate change, near-term (2050).
These operational developments implied and continuously require related research activity. The research focus is actually on: - i) new developments and extensive validation of the modelling chain results to constantly increase the prediction skill and reliability of regional climate projections; - ii) seasonal predictability actual concern issues e.g.: large-scale and regional prediction sources for the region; improved estimates of the uncertainty; accurate initialisation of extended predictions as a main prediction skill-source; specific focus on accounting for the main regional forcing that is a potential source of predictability: land-cover and its dynamics, the Black sea and Romania's lakes temperature; snow layer dynamics; regional O3/ aerosol/ GHG variability; iii) research on new learning techniques able to provide support in computer-demanding issues of the modeling e.g. ensemble members selection for uncertainty reduction; iv) assess changes in regional climate extremes ranges and mechanisms and optimise the communication and dissemination of related uncertainties and probabilities as a broad support in various planning; v) oriented research for regional climate services and products (agro-climate; hydrology; coastal - published).
National and International collaborations: the regional modeling activity is linked to international networks e.g.: PANNEX (Pannonian Regional Climate Group) with periodic exchange on methods and results; CORDEX consortium (with foreseen upload of downscaling simulations over Romania into the CORDEX databasis). At national level we aim to develop collaborative work with stakeholders and potential users of these products to develop user-oriented climate scenarios and predictive information (energy, urban development, vulnerable areas, flooding, drought, heat waves, etc).
Meteorological observations are synchronized and integrated on a European and on a global level. Romania participates in various fields of climate-related monitoring, on national level and in European and global programmes. Romanian experts exploit observing systems for the monitoring of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) which describe:
• Atmospheric climate (including measurements for some atmospheric constituents such as ozone);
• Black sea climate;
• Terrestrial climate.
In Romania, monitoring activities have been synchronized with the European research area and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) programmes (especially from the Region VI) and with GCOS on global level.
The National Meteorological Administration (NMA) is the main organization which performs systematic observations on atmospheric climate and, to a lesser extent, on parts of sea and terrestrial climate. These observations are gathered, validated and transferred in the National Meteorological Network (NMN). The NMN is organized in 7 Regional Meteorological Centers which consists of 166 operational weather stations, all of them being automatic weather stations (MAWS) and 23 of them are functioning autonomously. Observations at 64 rain gauging stations are made on a voluntary basis. 68 weather stations perform an agrometeorological measurement programme. Radiometric measurements are performed at: 109 weather stations (global radiation); 9 weather stations (diffuse and net radiation); 121 weather stations (effective sunshine duration).
The programme of meteorological upper-air measurements is carried out at the Aerologic
Observatory of Bucharest-Afuma?i, including two daily radio soundings (at 0000 and 1200 UTC). Daily wind soundings with PILOT balloon are also carried out at the station Bucharest Afuma?i at 0600 UTC.
The operational National Meteorological Integrated System (SIMIN) was established in 2003. Within SIMIN the national radar network has been upgraded. Now, the national meteorological radar network consists of 7 Doppler weather radar systems. The radar information from all equipment is combined into a unique product – the national radar mosaic (available in 3 versions every 10 minutes). The radar information from Romanian network is useful for the neighbouring countries, too.
Observations from meteorological satellites refer to receiving and processing in real time digital images and data from geostationary satellites METEOSAT-7 and MASG-1 in 3, and 12 spectral channels, respectively. The operative running of EUMETSAT/SAFNWC model started in February 2005, obtaining 8 of the 12 nowcasting products, every 15 minutes, which are transmitted to the National Forecasting Centre.
Romania contributes to free data exchange under national law (Romanian Law of Meteorology) and international regulations (e.g. ECOMET rules). NMA participates in the international meteorological data exchange with a number of 23 stations in RBSN (Regional Basic Synoptic Network) and 14 stations in RBCN (Regional Basic Climatological Network). Also, NMA has submitted and updated climate data to the portal European Climate Assessment & Dataset (ECA & D) (http://www.ecad.eu/).
In addition to the monitoring activities of the NMA, systematic observations are also recorded by National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management for hydrological-related climate indicators and Black Sea climate. The GeoEcoMar institute performs climate relevant measurements of oceanographic, marine ecosystem and geological indicators in the Black Sea. Institute for Marine Research (Constanta) also performs measurements of climate related indicators of Black Sea climate ecosystems. The GeoEcoMar and Institute for Marine Research contribute to EuroGoos and Black Sea GOOS. National and local agencies for environmental protection gather data related to atmospheric constituents and pollutants.
Climate modelling, projections and scenarios:
A new activity branch of regional climate modelling for high resolution climate projections and climate predictions (monthly- seasonal) has been developed recently in Romania at the NMA.
The main objective is to bring added value fine-scale information on climate projections estimates (and uncertainty) at sub-regional scale, that is the scale needed for impact assessment, preparedness and climate change mitigation. Fine scale is also needed to better represent climate extremes and changes in their location, intensity, frequency and duration. A sum of new climate services based on NMA's regional modeling (high-resolution) products are prepared and still this aspect can be far more exploited in the near-future.
Among the main achievements to date are: - i) a new operational chain of seasonal prediction downscaling at fine resolution for Romania (twice a week - providing monthly forecast and monthly - providing 6 month forecast). The seasonal prediction downscaling chain is fully operational down to visualisation of output uploaded on NAM internal Platform and derived products, offering information-support More research directions are ongoing around these, and potential climate services foreseen; -ii) the realisation of first high-resolution dynamical climate projections for Romania (5km - RCP8.5), accomplished now for the time horizon 2040 (Azure-2 Microsoft project); - iii) user-oriented scenarios for Romania were performed at high resolution: a combined land-use (Volante project) / emission RCP8.5 scenarios was implemented and run to investigate the range of response to land use management in the time horizon 2050 (Azure-1 project); - iv) this year we start developing oriented use of the high-resolution modeling chain towards new climate services. In the frame of PED-Uefiscdi project together with project partners we aim to provide a climate service aiming to identify, validate (laboratory) and provide a generalised tool for assessing maize ideotype suitable for Romania under climate change, near-term (2050).
These operational developments implied and continuously require related research activity. The research focus is actually on: - i) new developments and extensive validation of the modelling chain results to constantly increase the prediction skill and reliability of regional climate projections; - ii) seasonal predictability actual concern issues e.g.: large-scale and regional prediction sources for the region; improved estimates of the uncertainty; accurate initialisation of extended predictions as a main prediction skill-source; specific focus on accounting for the main regional forcing that is a potential source of predictability: land-cover and its dynamics, the Black sea and Romania's lakes temperature; snow layer dynamics; regional O3/ aerosol/ GHG variability; iii) research on new learning techniques able to provide support in computer-demanding issues of the modeling e.g. ensemble members selection for uncertainty reduction; iv) assess changes in regional climate extremes ranges and mechanisms and optimise the communication and dissemination of related uncertainties and probabilities as a broad support in various planning; v) oriented research for regional climate services and products (agro-climate; hydrology; coastal - published).
National and International collaborations: the regional modeling activity is linked to international networks e.g.: PANNEX (Pannonian Regional Climate Group) with periodic exchange on methods and results; CORDEX consortium (with foreseen upload of downscaling simulations over Romania into the CORDEX databasis). At national level we aim to develop collaborative work with stakeholders and potential users of these products to develop user-oriented climate scenarios and predictive information (energy, urban development, vulnerable areas, flooding, drought, heat waves, etc).
Climate modelling has been developed in recent years in NMA. The methodologies are in-line with most recent research and operational activity in regional climate modeling Centers at International level, with the broadness allowed by local computing resources. The regional modelling chain is based on the RegCMV4.6 model developed through international cooperation at ICTP, that is a state-of-the art model part of the CORDEX ensemble. This model was adapted and optimised for high-resolution runs over Romania: an optimal model configuration for Romania was determined using Machine Learning/Genetic Algorithms that allowed to identify the best cross-physical parameterisations choice for the domain. This optimised configuration was used for climate scenarios’ downscaling, where the regional model was coupled to three global models: Ec-Earth, MPI, CNRM and produced refined projections (5km) and uncertainty estimates on the time-horizon 2040.
For seasonal prediction new forcing is updated in the physical parameterisations: sea surface temperature (actually from coastal stations and marine platform) was implemented and validated (anomaly initialisation method), and is ongoing for snow layer depth and soil moisture initialisation (remote sensing). The prediction chain performs the dynamical downscaling of the SYS5-ECMWF ensemble forecast over Romania, currently for a reduced ensemble member (4) meanwhile with alternate procedure for optimal selection under investigation.
Off-line coupling of the regional climate modeling chain was performed with hydrological models and applied at very high resolution (3km) in flood prediction. Ongoing is the coupling with Phenological models (DSSAT and auxiliary models) for agro-climate projections (Prepclim project). Other off-line coupling is performing prediction of storm tracks (density, persistence) for the 1-6 months and prediction of drought indices SPEI for the following 6 months, using locally developed software.
Apart from the high-resolution downscaling chain NMA makes use of all state-of-the art available information from projects such as COPERNICUS, ESA and applies specific post-processing of output from global centers, actually: SYS5-ECMWF, JMA, NCEP-CFS, in the support of extended prediction. This post processing performs predicted anomaly reconstruction (scaling model-variability into local climate observed-variability), shifting it to a same reference climatology among various models and reconstructing the predicted full-field relative to local climate.
Uncertainty: The uncertainty is estimated from perturbations of the large-scale initial and lateral boundary information in the SYS5-ECMWF system. In situations where the spread is not relevant, we apply perturbations in regional model physics.
Challenges: the main challenge is the computing resources and storage. Both extended prediction and regional climate scenarios are big consumers and require ensemble simulations to cover the uncertainties in these simulations. This even more becomes challenging when talking about high resolution as required for impact assessment and extremes analysis.
For seasonal prediction new forcing is updated in the physical parameterisations: sea surface temperature (actually from coastal stations and marine platform) was implemented and validated (anomaly initialisation method), and is ongoing for snow layer depth and soil moisture initialisation (remote sensing). The prediction chain performs the dynamical downscaling of the SYS5-ECMWF ensemble forecast over Romania, currently for a reduced ensemble member (4) meanwhile with alternate procedure for optimal selection under investigation.
Off-line coupling of the regional climate modeling chain was performed with hydrological models and applied at very high resolution (3km) in flood prediction. Ongoing is the coupling with Phenological models (DSSAT and auxiliary models) for agro-climate projections (Prepclim project). Other off-line coupling is performing prediction of storm tracks (density, persistence) for the 1-6 months and prediction of drought indices SPEI for the following 6 months, using locally developed software.
Apart from the high-resolution downscaling chain NMA makes use of all state-of-the art available information from projects such as COPERNICUS, ESA and applies specific post-processing of output from global centers, actually: SYS5-ECMWF, JMA, NCEP-CFS, in the support of extended prediction. This post processing performs predicted anomaly reconstruction (scaling model-variability into local climate observed-variability), shifting it to a same reference climatology among various models and reconstructing the predicted full-field relative to local climate.
Uncertainty: The uncertainty is estimated from perturbations of the large-scale initial and lateral boundary information in the SYS5-ECMWF system. In situations where the spread is not relevant, we apply perturbations in regional model physics.
Challenges: the main challenge is the computing resources and storage. Both extended prediction and regional climate scenarios are big consumers and require ensemble simulations to cover the uncertainties in these simulations. This even more becomes challenging when talking about high resolution as required for impact assessment and extremes analysis.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt in Romania; 2015 was the warmest year in the period starting from 1901 up to 2018 (average temperature 11.72°C). In 2005, Romania suffered from historic floods that caused 76 deaths and at least 1.66 billion Euro in property damage (2.1% of Romanian GDP); and 2007 brought the country's most severe drought in the last 70 years, with other episodes including water scarcity in 2002, 2003, 2011 and 2012. The frequency of wildfires in Romania has increased in the recent past, causing serious economic damage.
The effects of these extreme weather events inflicted significant economic loss in agriculture transport, energy supply, and water management. In a scenario of increased global warming by 4°C, the situation would further deteriorate in Romania.
With 72% of agricultural holdings having an area of less than 2 ha, this may be a barrier to efficient knowledge transfer and adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures (World Bank, 2014).
The effects of these extreme weather events inflicted significant economic loss in agriculture transport, energy supply, and water management. In a scenario of increased global warming by 4°C, the situation would further deteriorate in Romania.
With 72% of agricultural holdings having an area of less than 2 ha, this may be a barrier to efficient knowledge transfer and adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures (World Bank, 2014).
| Observed climate hazards | Acute | Chronic |
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| Key future climate hazards | Acute | Chronic |
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| Temperature |
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Under current climate scenarios in Romania, the loss of biodiversity, diminished agricultural harvests and energy poverty will raise as growing challenges driven by compound of climate, economic and social growing impacts and pressures.
According to Romania’s 2019 national report on the state of environment (http://www-old.anpm.ro/upload/150386_ANPM-PC_RSM%202019.pdf), in the 2070s, an increase by 3 0C of the average air temperature, in the mountain area, according to the current altitudinal gradients (-0.5 0C / 100 m alt.) is estimated to increase by approx. 600 m of the current layer of primary vegetation. From these data it results that in the high mountains the alpine and subalpine floors (of the juniper) will disappear, being replaced by the floor of the spruce and beech forests. In parallel, the steppe area will replace the upper floor of the oak forests and the forest-steppe will replace the lower part of the beech forest floors. These major mutations in the altitude distribution of woody vegetation in the mountain area will lead to a natural reduction by 40-70% of current forest areas with even more dramatic consequences on the hydrological balance and rainfall.
Birds play an important role in the food chain in the ecosystem in which they live. The network that connects these nutritional relationships is very fine and any alteration of one or more components affects all the others. The disappearance or change of the geographical distribution of some bird species can have devastating effects on some habitats. Most bird species are very sensitive to climate change.
As a result of climate change and the physico-chemical properties of the soils, the productivity of the meadows at altitude will change in the sense of reaching a maximum between 1600 - 1800 m, compared to 1000 -1200 m current altitude, respectively 600 m above (Table V .7.). The level of production instead will be lower than the current ones, due to the reduction of approx. 45 cm of soil layer thickness and more pronounced acidity by 0.9 units.
The reaction of the soil (pH) and the degree of saturation in the bases (V%) will undergo the corresponding changes with the raising on altitude of the bar of more active bioclimatic indicators for vegetation (Marusca, 2007). Much slower changes in soil will make the productivity of natural vegetation and crops quite low with all the more favorable heat conditions that will be at higher altitudes in the future.
Increased temperatures will negatively impact livestock farming in a variety of ways. Firstly, higher temperatures – and especially increased extreme temperatures and heatwaves – will cause heat stress among livestock populations. Further, incidences of pests and diseases are likely to increase as a result of both increased temperatures and heavier precipitation. Finally, reduced grassland yields in the case of increased droughts will also negatively impact livestock production (The World Bank, 2014).
Permanent crops will likely be negatively impacted by increasing temperatures. There is the potential for premature aging of plantations, which could reduce yields (The World Bank, 2014).
Agriculture is limited in the mountainous areas. However, more frequent and intense rainstorms will likely increase the risk of soil erosion by water on sloped land. Where riverbeds are steeply sloping and floodplains are narrow, there may also be powerful floods. The combination of erosion and flooding could lead to landslides blocking valley areas. Finally, crop damage as a result of both heat stress and storms could also increase in these regions. According to the SWOT analysis for the new National Strategic, mountain areas (designated as LFAs type area) are also the ones concentrating a high proportion of the small farming communities, identified as being most vulnerable to the climate impacts.
Regarding the trends, according to the SWOT analysis for RO NSP 2021-2027, the economic losses registered at the level of the surfaces affected by extreme climatic phenomena in the period 2015 - 2019 were estimated at over 600 million euros (3 billion lei.
Energy poverty stays as a challenge under current and expected climate impacts. The number of Romanians considered to be in energy poverty would be up to 19%, while heating aid from the central budget currently covers less than 5% of the population (Center for Democracy Study and ENEL Romania, 2017) Another phenomenon of energy poverty is the lack of formal access to electricity, as there are currently no public policies to combat it. According to estimates in the report, starting from the number of non-electrified dwellings (estimated despite contradictory and fragmented official data), to those built without authorization (which, therefore, cannot benefit from a legal connection) and from data reported by suppliers on losses and own technological consumption, approximately 460,000 households in Romania (7% of all households) do not have access or have informal access to electricity. Under future climate stress and given that a significant amount of the population benefitting heating subsidies use wood as main heating source for their households, the issue of energy poverty could become more complex and stringent already in near and medium term.
According to Romania’s 2019 national report on the state of environment (http://www-old.anpm.ro/upload/150386_ANPM-PC_RSM%202019.pdf), in the 2070s, an increase by 3 0C of the average air temperature, in the mountain area, according to the current altitudinal gradients (-0.5 0C / 100 m alt.) is estimated to increase by approx. 600 m of the current layer of primary vegetation. From these data it results that in the high mountains the alpine and subalpine floors (of the juniper) will disappear, being replaced by the floor of the spruce and beech forests. In parallel, the steppe area will replace the upper floor of the oak forests and the forest-steppe will replace the lower part of the beech forest floors. These major mutations in the altitude distribution of woody vegetation in the mountain area will lead to a natural reduction by 40-70% of current forest areas with even more dramatic consequences on the hydrological balance and rainfall.
Birds play an important role in the food chain in the ecosystem in which they live. The network that connects these nutritional relationships is very fine and any alteration of one or more components affects all the others. The disappearance or change of the geographical distribution of some bird species can have devastating effects on some habitats. Most bird species are very sensitive to climate change.
As a result of climate change and the physico-chemical properties of the soils, the productivity of the meadows at altitude will change in the sense of reaching a maximum between 1600 - 1800 m, compared to 1000 -1200 m current altitude, respectively 600 m above (Table V .7.). The level of production instead will be lower than the current ones, due to the reduction of approx. 45 cm of soil layer thickness and more pronounced acidity by 0.9 units.
The reaction of the soil (pH) and the degree of saturation in the bases (V%) will undergo the corresponding changes with the raising on altitude of the bar of more active bioclimatic indicators for vegetation (Marusca, 2007). Much slower changes in soil will make the productivity of natural vegetation and crops quite low with all the more favorable heat conditions that will be at higher altitudes in the future.
Increased temperatures will negatively impact livestock farming in a variety of ways. Firstly, higher temperatures – and especially increased extreme temperatures and heatwaves – will cause heat stress among livestock populations. Further, incidences of pests and diseases are likely to increase as a result of both increased temperatures and heavier precipitation. Finally, reduced grassland yields in the case of increased droughts will also negatively impact livestock production (The World Bank, 2014).
Permanent crops will likely be negatively impacted by increasing temperatures. There is the potential for premature aging of plantations, which could reduce yields (The World Bank, 2014).
Agriculture is limited in the mountainous areas. However, more frequent and intense rainstorms will likely increase the risk of soil erosion by water on sloped land. Where riverbeds are steeply sloping and floodplains are narrow, there may also be powerful floods. The combination of erosion and flooding could lead to landslides blocking valley areas. Finally, crop damage as a result of both heat stress and storms could also increase in these regions. According to the SWOT analysis for the new National Strategic, mountain areas (designated as LFAs type area) are also the ones concentrating a high proportion of the small farming communities, identified as being most vulnerable to the climate impacts.
Regarding the trends, according to the SWOT analysis for RO NSP 2021-2027, the economic losses registered at the level of the surfaces affected by extreme climatic phenomena in the period 2015 - 2019 were estimated at over 600 million euros (3 billion lei.
Energy poverty stays as a challenge under current and expected climate impacts. The number of Romanians considered to be in energy poverty would be up to 19%, while heating aid from the central budget currently covers less than 5% of the population (Center for Democracy Study and ENEL Romania, 2017) Another phenomenon of energy poverty is the lack of formal access to electricity, as there are currently no public policies to combat it. According to estimates in the report, starting from the number of non-electrified dwellings (estimated despite contradictory and fragmented official data), to those built without authorization (which, therefore, cannot benefit from a legal connection) and from data reported by suppliers on losses and own technological consumption, approximately 460,000 households in Romania (7% of all households) do not have access or have informal access to electricity. Under future climate stress and given that a significant amount of the population benefitting heating subsidies use wood as main heating source for their households, the issue of energy poverty could become more complex and stringent already in near and medium term.
Key affected sectors
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Drought is one of the major natural processes of interest for agriculture. In Romania, from a total surface of 237.500 km2, 62% are agricultural lands – approximately 14.7 million ha – categorized according to usage as arable land, pastures, vineyards and orchards. Frequent and prolonged drought affects 7.1 million ha, which represent 48% of the total agricultural land (2006), about 25% of the arable land being affect in 2019. Since the 1980s the incidence of extreme drought has steadily increased and since 2000 there have been 6 growing seasons with large rainfall deficits which significantly diminished crop yields. Climate change in Romania in recent years has led to drought in some wine regions in the south of the country, with negative effects on the production of grapes for wine.
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| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
The climate change is affecting the amount and seasonality of rainfall, therefore, evapotranspiration may lead to shorter growing seasons and a higher risk regarding the lack of water for the crops. Floods or flash floods can also occur frequently due to melting snow, increase of precipitation, river blockage or overflow of rivers. Soil erosion is another problem that the agriculture sector is facing.
|
| Vulnerability |
high
Overall the agricultural sector appears highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and it is expected that the livelihoods of many rural people will be increasingly affected by the changing climatic conditions that are predicted. The risk of impact is not equally distributed. There are regional differences in the likelihood of negative impacts such as drought and extreme rainfall events, as well differences in the vulnerability, resilience and adaptive capacity of rural actors and communities to climate change. Differences which are further accentuated by the huge polarity in farm size and structure that is characteristic of the ARD sector in Romania. Probably one of the most affected groups of producers will be subsistence farmers in the lowlands, especially in southern and south-eastern Romania.
Key vulnerabilities are: • reduced agricultural productivity; • water supply for rural consumers; • other social (e.g. human health) and economic hazards for rural communities and households, and; • environment and the 'health' of natural ecosystems. Adaptation is clearly also a high priority – progressive climate change is occurring and significant impacts upon the sector are developing. The agriculture sector needs to start responding more rapidly to prepare for future impacts and there is a need to build both the resilience and adaptive capacity of the two ARD sub-sectors (the large commercial farms and the communities of small-scale subsistence farms) (World Bank 2014). |
| Risk Future Impact |
medium
Romania is already increasingly encountering the negative impacts of climate change (including extreme events) and the modelling of future climate trends suggests that these negative impacts will continue to become more severe. These impacts include: (i) the increased incidence of severe flooding with the associated social and economic disruption and costs; (ii) the increased frequency and intensity of drought; (iii) increased risk of soil erosion by wind and water; (iv) the risk of desertification and associated land degradation, notably in southern and eastern Romania; and (v) reduced agricultural productivity.
Overall, the possible consequences of climate change will increase significantly the risk of calamities in the agricultural sector, depending on the duration and severity of the extreme weather events, moreover, the negative effects could also contribute at the reduction of the financial security for farmers in many regions, especially in the south and southeast of the country. |
| Impact/key hazard |
low
According to the current National Climate Change Strategy, climate change is not considered a major threat, but this conclusion is affected by the methods used to estimate values and trends, taking into account that only 30% of habitat data and less than 20% of species data has been obtained from complete studies.
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| Key hazard likelihood |
low
Rising temperatures, increasing frequency of extreme temperatures, changes in precipitation and their seasonal distribution, declining snowfall and the number of frost days in winter, rising water temperatures associated with increasing drought frequency and declining groundwater resources are the main abiotic factors that affect biodiversity. The risk generated by these events for the biodiversity sector is evaluated at being low.
|
| Vulnerability |
low
The main threats to biodiversity generated by extreme weather events are represented by (World Bank 2014)::
- Changing the behaviour of species as a result of stress induced on their adaptation ability, a shorter period of hibernation or lack of it, especially affecting bears and bats species. - Changes in the distribution and composition of natural habitats as a result of changes occurred in their structure, with the most vulnerable habitats being represented by wetlands, high mountains, lakes, rivers and streams, marine and aquatic ecosystems. - Increased invasion of non-native species in the current existing natural habitats and increasing their potential to become invasive. - Threat to wild animals, especially species with low mobility and / or low population, due to the risk of forest fires. - Increasing risk of soil erosion. |
| Risk Future Impact |
low
According to the future climate projections over the 21st century, if the average temperature will increase by 3 degrees Celsius by 2070, over 30% of the territory will be affected by desertification and approximately 38% from severe aridization, encompassing all the plains, 85% of the hill and plateau area and 20% of the low mountain areas
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| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
The observed impacts of key hazards are different from the urban to the rural buildings. Floods due to heavy rains or melting of the snow, droughts or heat islands are a common problem that Romania’s building sector is facing. Cities have long held a central place of importance in society as hubs of commerce, culture, and political power. Because of climate change, however, the clustering together of large numbers of people and high levels of economic activity also creates vulnerabilities. Some will be found directly within a city: people living and working in coastal areas or in river floodplains may be subject to the impacts of sea level rise or extreme rainfall events that put their lives or businesses at peril. Urban climate change can also take other forms, however, including situations where impacts occurring far outside of a city can affect systems (e.g. water or energy supply) essential to life within the city.
|
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Floods, storms, droughts or other climate change related events will affect both the rural and urban building sector, depending on the magnitude of the event.
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
In general, the buildings in Romania respect certain construction standards and are built in such a way that they are adapted to the country's climate. However, in the event of extreme weather events, the building sector may be affected.
In terms of climate adaptation/resilience, planning activity has largely taken the form of disaster planning which is required under national law, although the quality or breadth of these plans is quite unclear. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
National level climate studies project that Romania will get warmer and that both drought and extreme rainfall events will become increasingly commonplace in the coming century, although strong regional differences will remain. There is, however, a dearth of knowledge about how Romanian cities will be affected by climate change, as there has been very little research undertaken to statistically ‘downscale’ global climate models to provide a more granular, local picture of how circumstances will change in the coming decades.
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| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
The main climate risks to which the industrial sector is exposed are associated with negative effects on infrastructure caused by natural phenomena associated with climate change, such as heat, precipitation, wind, floods or other climate related effects
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| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
The incidence of risks depends on the type of business and the type of climate risk that affects this sector.
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
67% of water demand is based on industry, with 95% dependence on surface waters for industrial supply.
From a quantitative perspective, a majority of the basins have no serious problems in ensuring sufficient volume for water for meeting the domestic and industrial demands. However, the basins with lower endowment of water (Jiu, Arges-Vedea, Buzau-Ialomita, Siret, Prut-Barlad, and Dobrogea-Litoral) face supply reliability challenges during the summer months, especially in dry years. The Dobrogea-Litoral basin is the most severely affected in this regard. Despite the risks and possible losses, the industrial sector is less prepared to cope to the impacts of climate change, especially regarding with the problems caused by climate events that have a high degree of uncertainty. Awareness of adaptation to climate change in the industrial sector is low. The damage and economic costs that the industry sector may face can be high, when extreme weather events occur. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts is variable depending on the different industry sectors and the climate hazards that may occur in the future.
Their risks and effects could include high operating and maintenance costs due to interruption of work processes due to extreme weather conditions, uncertain modification of risk profiles for disaster insurance and increasing costs for insurace for industrial raw materials and products, losses and / or damages to the water infrastructure due to floods or power outages in the event of drought, compromising the acces to industrial sites or certain areas due to floods, landslides or due to damages caused by these types of events. Also, the supply of raw materials can significantly be affected by climate change (World Bank, 2014). |
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Romania's risk profile, developed by the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction for the period 1900-2015, indicates high risks of earthquakes and floods, due to the major impact, in the context in which more than half of the country's population lives in urban areas, and the main losses derives from the interruption of the provision of services and from industry. Drought and forest fires are also two other climate related events that are currently affecting Romania. The phenomenon of drought is included in the category of natural hazards with a major negative impact on the population, socio-economic and environmental activity, depending on the spatio-temporal dimension and production intensity.
At present, the existing legislative framework for risk management prescribes the emergency management for various categories of risks, inter alia for: storms and blizzards, floods, snow storms, tornadoes, droughts, extreme temperatures, vegetation fires, avalanches, water pollution, land slides, earthquakes, accidents, incidents and other type of hazards related to industry, mining, technological activities, transportation and storage of dangerous substances, transportation activities, nuclear or radiologic activities, buildings, failure of public services / utilities, cosmic objects, ammunition unexploded / not deactivated, epidemics, epizootics, radiologic risks, fires, situations caused by plants’ pests. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Depending on the type of hazard, the climate related risks such as floods and droughts are more present in certain areas of the country.
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
Both the rural and urban population is facing climate related risks and is vulnerable to certain extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms etc.
|
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related events that we’re taking into consideration, as stated above, regarding the civil protection and emergency management, the climate risks that Romania is facing are multiple.
|
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
The sea level is rising making the low-lying coasts such as the Danube Delta to become increasingly vulnerable to marine hazards (e.g. marine storms), with associated changes in the dynamic of coastline and coastal degradation (coastal erosion). The estimated rates of sea level rise over the entire Black Sea Basin, based on gridded satellite altimetry data over 1993-2017, was of up to 2.5 mm/year. Local trends observed in the Romanian coastal area of the Black Sea (1933-2004) suggest a sea level rise ranging between 0.36 cm/year in the north (Sulina) and 0.17 cm/year in the south (Constan?a). Other adverse effects of the observed climate change on coastal areas of Romania are related to saltwater intrusions.
Climate change also determines an alteration in time of storm patterns with the Black Sea Basin, manifested as shortening of the storm duration especially due to the tendency of the storm decay phase to shorten, in accordance with the shift of the prevailing direction of storm forcing winds to the north. Most evident changes in marine storminess have been observed since 2006, when the wave and wind proxies displayed the lowest values and point to an overall decreasing trend in storminess. The observed change in storm climate (2003-2014) was associated with a reduction in the northern storm frequency which brought about a more important contribution to the southern storms and an overall drop in storminess. These changes are associated with a slight tendency of increasing beach and dune stability in the Danube Delta coastal areas. There are no clear trends related to the recurrence of extreme storms. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Future projections for the 21st century show that the sea level in the Black Sea Basin will increase and it is likely to affect the state of the Danube Delta and the coastal zone ecosystems, exposing the low-elevation coastal areas of the Black Sea (including the Danube Delta) to flood risk and saltwater intrusions. The severity expected future environmental impacts of climate change in the coastal areas of Romania will depend on the synergetic effects of factors controlling the deltaic and littoral processes, as well as on the delta plain and shoreline elevation. According to ICPDR, sea level in the Black Sea is projected to increase up to 0.5 m by 2050. The impacts on the shore zone are likely to be important from the perspective of the joint effects of projected sea level rise and change in wind and storminess patterns. A shortage in beach sediment feeding is also likely due to the expected decrease in river-borne sediment inputs (including of the Danube River) and increasing anthropogenic pressure in the coastal areas of the Black Sea. A decrease in freshwater discharge into the sea is also expected which is likely to influence the general salinity of the Black Sea also in relation to the projected sea level rise. Future climate change is likely to affect the rich and unique biodiversity of the Danube Delta (a World Heritage site and an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve).
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
The coastal areas are vulnerable to climate change effects such as coastal erosion, marine storms, rise of sea level, saltwater intrusion or other climate related events.
|
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related event that we’re taking into consideration, as stated above, coastal areas are facing multiple climate related risks.
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| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Extreme weather events may affect the energy infrastructure or the energy demand. Thus, the energy sector is directly affected by being damaged by certain weather events or is being overloaded by the energy demand resulted from the occurrence of certain climate change related events.
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| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Regarding the likelihood of the occurrence of the key hazards and exposure to them under future climate depends on the different types or risks that may occur such as floods, droughts, of forests fires and their associated negative impacts.
|
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
The vulnerabilities related to climate change events that may affect the energy sector are:
- Changes regarding the seasonal demand for electricity which will be higher in the summer and lower in the winter; - Decrease of water quantity available for the energy production sector; - Decrease of the wind speed which may affect the wind turbines; - Extreme weather events can physically affect the energy infrastructure |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related events that we’re taking into consideration, as stated above, in the energy sector, the climate risks that Romania is facing are multiple.
|
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Since 2010, catastrophic risks, including climate-related risks such as flood risk and landslides are covered by the national compulsory insurance program against Catastrophes for housing managed by PAID - a common insurance fund.
According to World Bank estimates, currently in Romania approximately an area of 2.2 million hectares of agricultural land is covered by insurance policies, representing approximately 11,000 farmers with an average farm of 200 ha. The types of risks covered by insurance companies in the agricultural sector are: torrential rain, storm / storm, hail, landslide / collapse / landslide, early autumn frost, late spring frost, surgical, obstetric and infectious diseases. From the data reported by the insurance companies to the Financial Supervision Authority, the value of the gross premiums written in the agricultural sector was 21,4 million euros in 2017 and 18.9 million euros in 2018. Of the value of these premiums, approximately 12% represented insurance for animals, the difference being insurance for agricultural crops. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched the submeasure 17.1 “Crop, animal and plant insurance premiums” for providing compensations for the damages generated by droughts (initial allocation 24,7 million euro). |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Regarding the likelihood of the occurrence of the key hazards and exposure to them under future climate depends on the different types or risks that may occur such as floods, droughts, of forests fires and their associated negative impacts.
|
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
Members of vulnerable groups e.g. poor individuals, farmers, SMEs, which represent a significant percentage of the Romanian population, cannot afford to pay insurance premiums related to these mandatory disaster protection policies.
|
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
Due to the small number of policies, small number of insured, the disaster protection insurance system in Romania is not sustainable. The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related events that we’re taking into consideration, for example some areas are more exposed to flood risks while other areas are exposed to drought or other extreme weather events.
|
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
In the period 1990-2006, the monitoring of the health of the forests in Romania indicates a deficient health of the forests in 1991, 2005 and 2006. The forests were subjected to moderate disturbances in the years 1990, 1992, 1995-1999, 2000-2004. The main risks identified for forests are severe droughts, increasing the number of forest pests, wind falls, and increasing the number of fires.
The forests in Romania started to be increasingly affected by fires. In 2019, in Caras-Severin County, was recorded a vegetation fire that affected about 15 hectars of forest. However, there were no mentiones regarding compensations for damages; • Dessertification is one of the biggest damage as an effect of long term droughts. For the first time, one of the largest federation of farmers in Romania (LAPAR) is calling for action for restoring of the forest belts, especially in the counties where the percentage of forest has been decreased in the competition for gaining more land for agriculture (i.e the forestry area in Dolj county – one of the most affected one by dessertification – was reduced from 14% to 7% in the last 50 years); • The national legislation has been amended in order to better regulate the forest cuttings and address the illegal logging. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Climate change has and will have significant effects on forests in Romania, both in the medium and long term. In the medium term, forest productivity can be expected to decline to some extent, but the greatest threats come from the increased frequency of devastating events, such as fires or infestations caused by various pathogens.
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
The incidence of forest fires in climatic conditions. current is low in Romania, except in the south and southwest of the country. Increasing temperature and long periods of drought can increase the frequency and intensity of forest fires, limit the development of seedlings and cause changes in insect behaviour and other harmful factors. In southern and southwestern Romania, desertification phenomena are already causing inadequate conditions for the development of forest vegetation. Moreover, climate change has led to changes in the structure of forests, especially in hilly areas and forest migration from forest steppe areas to plain areas.
Pest infestations are a significant concern for the forestry sector. Forest fires are closely related to these infestations - dry tree infested forests are much more susceptible to forest fires, and forest segments affected by the fire are much more prone to pest infestation. Pests also affect the general health of forests, degrading them along with increasing CO2 emissions. Tree-falls due to extreme weather conditions are increasingly occurring in Romanian forests, in the beginning of 2020 only more than 2.2 mil c.m. having been affected (more than 200.000 ha). |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
Continental: Rising temperatures and extended dry periods are projected to limit the possibility for the growth of tree seedlings, as well as contributing to increased forest fire risk, which is low in most of the country except the south and southwest. Higher temperatures, as well as more frequent forest fires, will contribute to more issues with pests and diseases, which are a significant concern for the sector. In the south and southeastern parts of the country, desertification is already an issue, and forest composition is changing as forests migrate from steppes to the plains (The World Bank, 2015). Nonnative species like the Rosa Canina and Robinia pseudacacia are taking over natural forests (The World Bank, 2014). The combined increase in temperatures and decreased precipitation are predicted to cause a decline in growth by 30% for forests in the plain areas (The World Bank, 2014).
• Mountain: As in the Continental regions, increasing temperatures will negatively impact forestry in the region by impeding the growth of trees, raising the risk of forest fires, and increasing the incidence of pests and diseases (The World Bank, 2015). Wind and snow already cause a loss of 1 million m3 of timber, a figure likely to increase with the increased risk of winter storms. In mountainous areas, forests are taking over pastures, especially species like Norway spruce (The World Bank, 2014). Changes in temperatures and precipitation in mountainous areas are likely to contribute to an increased rate of Beech mortality. As with the rest of Europe, infestations of pests like the bark beetle are likely to increase at higher altitudes, causing damage to a wide range of tree species and impacting the ecosystem (The World Bank, 2014). |
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Both extreme weather events as well as climate related disasters that do not generate significant consequences and only hinder certain human activities can lead to public health events. For example, heavy rainfall can lead to vector – borne diseases, such as malaria. Depleting agricultural sectors can result in higher rates of malnutrition and increased susceptibility disease, therefore strengthening disease surveillance activities and early warning systems, regardless of the origin of the disease can also contribute to the benefit of the community.
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| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Climate change will negatively affect people’s lives and health over the next few decades. They will affect human health through a number of mechanisms, some of which are relatively direct effects of extreme events and natural disasters such as floods, storms, heat waves or droughts, changing patterns of infectious diseases or new pathogens, such as unknown or unexpected specific diseases, emerging diseases, disruption of agricultural systems and other types of ecosystems, mass urbanization, population migration and conflicts caused by depleted resources, infertile land and depleted water resources.
|
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
The vulnerability is different from one risk to another. While some weather events can generate a small impact, others can significantly affect population’s health.
|
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related events that we’re taking into consideration, for example some areas are more exposed to flood risks while other areas are exposed to drought or other extreme weather events.
|
| Impact/key hazard |
medium
In June 2020, the agricultural land from the Western part of the country was affected by floods, while in the South-Eastern part of Romania the arable crops have been seriously compromised by droughts. Farmers from Constanta county have been especially impacted, some going bankrupt or taking their livestock for slaughter. In August, the Ministry of Agriculture announced compensations in amount of about 175 million euros (850 mil RON) to cover 80% of the damages (Emergency Law).
Significant droughts occurred in both 2007 and 2012. In 2007, the gross added value of the agricultural sector decreased by 15.3%, while in 2012, the decrease reached 21.2%. During the period of 2007-13, droughts reduced Romania’s average production per hectare by over 50%. Crops most impacted by droughts include maize, wheat, barley, potatoes, sunflower, and rape (The World Bank, 2015). Flooding has also significantly impacted Romanian agriculture and has increased in the last few decades. Flood events between 2005-10 caused damages estimated at €6 billion, with 142 people killed, and 27,000 homes damaged. Flooding in the Timis region in April 2005 covered about 100,000 hectares and suspended agricultural production for the rest of the year. The same year, the Siret River flooded 40,000 hectares, while the Danube flooding in 2006 covered about 30,000 hectares (The World Bank, 2014). |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Regarding the likelihood of the occurrence of the key hazards and exposure to them under future climate depends on the different types or risks that may occur such as floods, droughts, of forests fires and their associated negative impacts.
|
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
The overall pattern of land use and agricultural production in Romania is not significantly different from that observed across the EU-27. However, the main characteristic of Romanian agriculture which sets it apart from other Member States is a) its highly polarised structure, and b) the huge number of small-scale farms.
In 2019, 34.647 farmers have been compensated for the damages caused by the droughts, phenomenon which has affected about 1,7 mil ha of arable land, used under different crops such as wheat, rape, barely, with implication in providing feeding for livestock as well. In 2020, 34.400 farmers required compensations for damages caused by droughts, with an affected area of about 1.6 million hectares. According to World Bank estimates, currently in Romania approximately an area of 2.2 million hectares of agricultural land is covered by insurance policies, representing approximately 11,000 farmers with an average farm of 200 ha. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
In 2020, 34.400 farmers required compensations for damages caused by droughts, with an affected area of about 1.6 million hectares. The value of the support granted for crops destroyed by drought is the following: for wheat – 191 euro/ ha, rye - 191 euro / ha, barley - 190 euro / ha, barley - 192 euro / ha, oats – 159 euro / ha, rapeseed – 206 euro / ha. Although the number of farmers affected, just as number of hectars affected by climate changes remained the same in the last two years, the trend shows an increased in costs for compensating farmers as the degree of the damages caused by climate change in the agricultural sector in Romania is becoming more severe.
Regarding the trends, according to the SWOT analysis for RO NSP 2021-2027, the economic losses registered at the level of the surfaces affected by extreme climatic phenomena in the period 2015 - 2019 were estimated at over 600 million euros (3 billion lei). Changing climatic conditions can increase the incidence of pest and disease attacks and reduce the natural productivity of agricultural and forestry land. In order to adapt to the effects of climate change and improve the resilience of the environment to them, it is necessary to establish, expand and / or modernize efficient irrigation systems, promote new technologies and agricultural management practices to manage the increasing incidence of pest and disease attacks, and reducing the amount of water evaporated from the soil, adopting risk management measures and informing farmers about best agricultural practices, for example about the varieties used or water consumption. The sub-measure for climate resistant crops has the potential to (re)introduce crops. |
| Impact/key hazard |
medium
Water supply in rural communities will be adversely affected because the warmer and shorter winters will lead to the decrease of the seasonal snow volume and to the early and fast snow melting, leading to shortages in summer months. There is already evidence of this occurring in those mountain areas (e.g. the Rucar-Bran corridor) where there is increased demand for water due to tourism and serious shortages of water occur at weekends and peak holiday periods due to the influx of visitors. Supply will also suffer from a lowering of groundwater table in summer months, due to reductions in the surface flow regime. Higher summer temperatures will lead to increased evapo-transpiration and therefore higher water demands in agriculture, during the same period when supplies will suffer a shortfall. The domestic water demands and supply will experience the same (but less pronounced) effect. It is also likely that hotter and drier summers will also cause a deterioration in the quality of water resources, thereby effectively reducing the supply.
Romania's risk profile, developed by the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction for the period 1900-2015, indicates high risks of earthquakes and floods, due to the major impact, in the context in which more than half of the country's population lives in urban areas, and the main losses derives from the interruption of the provision of services and from industry. Drought and forest fires are also two other climate related events that are currently affecting Romania. The phenomenon of drought is included in the category of natural hazards with a major negative impact on the population, socio-economic and environmental activity, depending on the spatio-temporal dimension and production intensity. Due to the fact that the main activities in the rural area are represented by agriculture, all the identified risks and aspects from the Agricultural sector are also reflected in the rural development sector. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
medium
In the near future (2021 - 2040), under climate change conditions, stronger and more spatially extended droughts will likely affect Romanian territory in the growing season, with significant impact on agriculture activities”. While losses may be partially offset by beneficial effects from carbon dioxide, crop production will be further threatened by increases in competition for water and the prevalence of pest and diseases and land losses through desertification. Perennial crops (orchards and vineyards) are also very vulnerable with partial or total loss of crop and premature ageing of plantations. Reductions in grassland / forage productivity due to drought will have knock-on effects to livestock productivity / viability.
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| Vulnerability |
medium
Key vulnerabilities in the adaptability of agriculture are the ageing of farmers, lack of infrastructure for irrigation, low productivity of small farmers, fragmentation of land ownership and youth migration from rural areas. In particular, yields of grain and other crops are predicted to decrease across the southern and south eastern part of Romania due to increased frequency of drought (JRC, 2012).
Many rural communities are already disadvantaged by the poor quality of rural roads – public transport is slow, many modern goods and services are not available and it is difficult to reach new markets with local products. These disadvantages will become even worse with the negative impacts of heavy rainfall and flooding upon dirt / gravel roads. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
Direct impacts of increased heat stress / water shortage upon the productivity, conception rates and health of farm animals are foreseen. This includes the potential health risks for livestock and 26 humans, including the resurgence of some transmissible diseases (anthrax, tetanus, rabies and chronic respiratory disease). Overall, the potential impacts of climate change in Romania are likely to greatly increase the risk of crop failure and reduce the financial security of farmers in many areas, especially the south and southeast of the country. However, it must be noted that the combined effects of changes in temperature and precipitation regimes in different climate change scenarios are not yet well understood, thus additional work is required for impact assessment at regional level. Down-scaling the predictions of Global Circulation models (GCM) and taking into account the local conditions of the area of interest will improve the accuracy of crop yield estimations in the new conditions of climate change.
There are multiple indirect effects of climate change upon rural communities and households. For example: • local ecosystems yield many useful (and economically important) products for rural communities, including fruits, mushrooms and herbs for harvesting. The abundance and distribution of these will change as the climate becomes warmer and drier; • forest fires will become a new risk in rural areas and impact negatively upon the local availability of wood for fuel and construction; • around 36% of all electricity in rural areas is produced by small-scale hydro-electric plants which may be affected by drought and declining river flows; • |
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
The tourism sector in Romania - together with the rest of Europe - is affected by weather conditions ex. heat waves in summer, floods and heavy storms or decreasing snowfall in winter in some regions, events that are generating an impact on tourist destinations.
Climate change strongly influences seaside tourism through phenomena such as sea level rise, threatening coastal areas by coastal erosion and floods, increased frequency of extreme weather events (e.g. heavy rains, heat waves, storms), reduction of water reserves. Meteorological conditions have a strong influence on tourist flows directed towards coast areas. Parameters as air temperature, precipitations, wind, sunny hours influence tourists decision in spending their time on the Black Sea coast, especially the duration and frequency of their staying and their behaviour (Surugiu, Surugiu, Breda, Leuqueux-Dinca, “Climate change impact on seaside tourism”, 2011). In the last ten years, between 2000-2010, these phenomena were more pronounced on Romanian Black Sea coast. In September 2005, strong floods were registered on the Black Sea coast, over passing the flood and hazard rates, resulting in significant economic and social losses. Short duration rainfalls of increasing intensity extended the damages and had a strong effect on tourism activity, Costinesti resort being particularly affected. At the same time, due to these climatic phenomena, Romanian and also foreign tourists cancelled their vacation to the seaside. The period of short rainfalls from July to September felled the tourists’ number travelling in the areas affected by floods. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Such occurrences could be drawn by considering the already accentuating phenomenon of coastal erosion, particularly reported in recent decades as becoming an almost general phenomenon for the Romanian coast, resulting in reduction of beach areas. In the last
decade, the balance between intake and loss of sedimentary material was negative. According to “Grigore Antipa” National Institute for Marine Research and Development, in the Eforie – Vama Veche coastal sector, the average annual change in the shoreline was - 1.9m/year with variations between 4.8 m/year (Mangalia) and -8.6 m/year (Vama Veche). The report erosion/accretion on the shoreline length studied as an indicator for the coastal zone was 0.50 for the period 2001-2006, compared to the interval 2006-2007, when the erosion was zero. |
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
Global warming affects the concentration of oxygen in sea water, becoming insufficient to insure the life of plants and animals, in the summer of 2010 hundreds of dead fishes being found along the beaches in Constanta, Mamaia, Navodari brought by waves. This phenomenon affected negatively tourist stays, creating an obvious discomfort. The increase in sea water temperature also generates the increase in the quantity of algae. Annually, disappointed by the smell and dirty water, tourists left the beaches (Surugiu et. All, 2011).
The increasing temperatures of their destination determined tourists to change their travel options. Thus, hot summers like the one in 2007 may urge domestic tourists, especially from great urban areas in South-East of Romania (including the capital of Bucharest) to make frequent trips on the Black Sea coast. Meanwhile, global warming causes tourists to travel to coastal areas also during off-season (e.g. warmer winters like the one in 2006-2007). Surugiu and Surugiu (2009) concluded in a study that, in every summer season, seaside tourism should register economic gains due to increase in air temperature, but beyond a certain thermal threshold, the discomfort occurs and tourists give up travelling, the plus in the demand being cancelled. On the other hand, the seaside resorts are strongly influenced by seasonality exacerbating the climate change negative effects, like those in the water regimes during dry seasons, aggravating water management and environmental issues. Beside the relation climate – tourism industry sectoral adaptation of summer tourism itself is definitely dependent on the level of development and prosperity of this economic domain and it is obvious in the case of the Romanian Black Sea Coast that its adaptive capacity would increase through sustainable (long-term) investments in this industry (CLAVIER, 2009). |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
Depending almost entirely on climate resources mass sea sand tourism has fewer possibilities to adapt in the case when other important natural or human resources (seaside respectively cultural attractions) lack in the nearby areas which is to a great extent the case of Romanian Black Sea littoral. Due to its scale, even if it finally manages to adapt, the economic figures would be diminished for the new “adapted” forms of tourism, due to an inevitable decreasing in arrivals and average stay period (lower in the case of other types of tourism). The way in which the existing tourism structures would be integrated in the future tourism development in the area is also an arguable aspect. A solution to cope with seasonality and maybe another variant to focus other forms of tourism less dependent on climate, even during summer season, would be in the case of Romanian littoral business tourism. However this would be a solution for more expensive resorts (ex.: the north part of Mamaia) and high comfort units (four or five star hotels) which are already hosting meetings and events, succeeding not to close during winter season. They could be also tempted to appeal to this form of tourism in order to complete revenues during summer tourism seasons. Adaptation costs would be very different from one accommodation to another and among different resorts, depending also very much on their internal specific resources and on their long marketing strategies to orient towards other forms of tourism. Another solution to cope climate changes for our summer tourism could be also an increased accessibility towards Danube Delta and the cooperation between investors in the two different parts of littoral for creating mixed tourism packages. The task to find solutions to protect tourists and to make them stay during a warmer, a drier or a stormy weather on littoral resorts would be a challenge for every stakeholder to assume in the future as Romanian Black Sea tourism resorts are obliged through their nature (at least by their geographic settlement) to depend on sun and sea tourism.
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| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Some examples of observed impacts are represented by the reduced asset condition and safety due to changes in average climatic conditions, while the assets are mode badly damaged as a result of more extreme climatic events. Another observed impact is the reduced network availability and/or functionality. The increased costs to maintain a safe serviceable network is another problem generated by climate related events. Other problems generated by climate related events are represented by the increased safety risk to road workers, increased programme and quality risks due to required changes in construction activities or increased business management costs.
Reduced precipitation, droughts and the associated reduced runoff may affect river navigation on the major waterways such as the Danube. This is something that is already being seen, according to the Lower Danube River Administration, with reduced water depths, meaning that the number of days on which navigation restrictions are implemented is increasing. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Depending on the type of hazard, the climate related risks such as floods and droughts are more present in certain areas of the country.
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| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
In the absence of adaptation measures, higher temperatures and more frequent heat waves (particularly in the south and south-east) are likely to cause problems with road and rail infrastructure. Asphalt roads may become soft and deform more under the weight of vehicles, causing traffic restrictions to be put in place (particularly for heavy vehicles). This issue is already recognized by the Romanian national roads company, with use of adjusted material standards and design norms in vulnerable areas to cope with higher temperatures and minimize deformation. Similar issues may also arise with asphalt surfaces (eg. runways) at Romanian airports. Railway lines also buckle under high temperatures, which can again lead to speed and usage restrictions.
The transport sector is vulnerable to a numerous types of hazards, therefore, the adaptive capacity is depending on different key hazards (World Bank 2014). |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The risk of potential future impacts depends on the climate related events that we’re taking into consideration due to the fact that the climate risks that Romania is facing are multiple.
In urban public transport (and in national rail services), higher temperatures and heat waves are likely to cause discomfort and possible safety risk to passengers. This will lead to a need for improved ventilation at stations (eg. Metro stations) and improved ventilation or air conditioning on trains, metro trains, trams, trolleybuses and buses. Rail, road and waterborne transport infrastructure are potentially vulnerable to the effects of more intense rainfall and increased frequency of flash floods. Bridge abutments, piers, road and rail embankments and riverbanks are potentially vulnerable to such flash floods unless measures are taken to protect them. Some roads and railways may also be more prone to flooding, unless drainage and flood protection measures are implemented. Intense rainfall can also have adverse impacts on road safety, although in some areas a reduction in icy and snowy days may counterbalance this. |
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Romania's risk profile, developed by the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction for the period 1900-2015, indicates high risks of earthquakes and floods, due to the major impact, in the context in which more than half of the country's population lives in urban areas, and the main losses derives from the interruption of the provision of services and from industry. Drought and forest fires are also two other climate related events that are currently affecting Romania. The phenomenon of drought is included in the category of natural hazards with a major negative impact on the population, socio-economic and environmental activity, depending on the spatio-temporal dimension and production intensity.
|
| Key hazard likelihood |
different likelihood of their occurrence and exposure for different key hazards and/or climate scenarios
Depending on the type of hazard, the climate related risks such as floods and droughts are more present in certain areas of the country.
|
| Vulnerability |
mixed situation for different key hazards
Adapting water systems to climate change is a topic of growing interest around the world, largely because of the implications it may hold for water availability. In Romania, the Jiu, ArgesVedea, Buzau-Ialomita, Siret, Prut-Barlad, and Dogrogea water basins already face supply reliability during the summer months, especially in dry years. Some of the larger cities in these regions include Craiova (Jiu), Pitesti (Arges-Vedea), Buzau (Buzau Ialomita), Bacau (Siret), Iasi (Prut-Barlad), and Constanta (Dobrogea). The Dobrogea system is the most severely affected, with 95% of the water supply for Constanta obtained from ground water.
Climate change may also have impacts on the distribution and treatment systems. Drought or extreme heat events can change the temperature of surface waters, leading to algae growth that clogs intake or outflow pipes. Drought can cause shifts in the soil, cracking pipes buried underground. Power supplies may fail during extreme heat events, preventing proper operation of pumping stations or treatment facilities. Flooding can overwhelm wastewater treatment facilities, which typically are in low-lying areas adjacent to waterways where the treated water is ultimately released. Depending on the way the stormwater system is designed in a city – combined with the sewage system or handled separately – heavy rainfall events can also overwhelm the design capacity of a wastewater treatment system. In such instances, raw sewage is typically released to adjacent waterways, undermining the investments made to prevent this from occurring. Both the rural and urban population is facing climate related risks and is vulnerable to certain extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, storms etc. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
Road and rail traffic on bridges are vulnerable to strong winds associated with extreme storm events. The structural integrity of long span bridges may also be jeopardized by strong winds,40 leading to bridge closure and failure in extreme cases.
Temperature variations, particularly extreme heat and heat waves, will affect transport construction projects. Extreme heat will create unfavourable working conditions for workers, and inhibits certain types of construction activities. For example, high temperature, low humidity and high wind are factors that reduce the setting times and strength of concrete. Nevertheless, warming temperatures can bring some benefits, particularly in colder areas of the country. Warmer temperatures could translate into a longer construction season and improved cost efficiencies, in addition to reducing winter road salt and chemical use, and their accompanying adverse environmental impacts. |
| Impact/key hazard |
mixed impacts for different hazards
Floods: Flooding occurs frequently in Romania, and the flood-prone is estimated at about 1.1 million ha. Romania has made significant investments in flood protection infrastructure, which include 9920 km of embankments, 6300 km of river training works, 217 temporary flooding areas, and 1232 reservoirs with active flood control operations. However floods happen almost every year, and the incidence of severe flooding is on the rise. The existing pipeline of infrastructure works proposed for flood management estimated at approx.17 billion €. If mixed impact for different hazards is selected, provide details for the key hazards.
Flash Floods: The high-intensity and short-duration floods (flash floods) are also becoming increasingly common in the mountain areas, mainly due to increasing frequency of high-intensity precipitation events, but also exacerbated by land use changes. The National Meteorological Administration, with 160 meteorological stations, 8 radars and 7 regional centers, conducts forecasting for flash floods. The current forecasting and early warning systems are able to provide a reasonable (12-48 hours, depending on the river system) lead time for flood events, but the warning time for small mountainous catchments which are prone to flash floods is about 2 hours, leaving the communities in these areas highly vulnerable to risk. This issue is of growing concern, since the incidence and toll of flash floods is increasing in Romania. It is possible to increase the warning time from the current level of 2 hours to 3-5 hours or more, and will require investments in upgrading the radar network for estimating rainfall intensity (including a new radar station in the Galati area), and for strengthening capacity of regional centers for flash flood forecasting. Drought: Due to increasing temperature and decreasing river flows the frequency of droughts is increasing in Romania. |
| Key hazard likelihood |
medium
Depending on the type of hazard, the climate related risks such as floods and droughts are more present in certain areas of the country.
The results for Buzau and Ialomita basins (from the CECILIA project, funded by the EU) indicate a likely reduction of mean annual flow in these basins, of 15-20 % for the period 2021-2050, and of 30- 40 % for the period 2070-2100 |
| Vulnerability |
medium
An analysis of changes in demands shows that the demand-supply gap will be manageable for the next 15-20 years, but significant measures will be needed to address vulnerability in the time period after that.
Water supply for agriculture, industrial and domestic use: a. Water supply will be adversely affected because the warmer and shorter winters will lead to the decrease of the seasonal snow volume and to the early and fast snow melting, leading to shortages in summer months. b. Hotter and drier summers will also cause a qualitative deterioration of the water resources, thereby effectively reducing the supply. c. Supply will also suffer from a lowering of groundwater table in summer months, due to reductions in the surface flow regime. d. Higher summer temperatures will lead to increased evapo-transpiration and therefore higher water demands in agriculture, during the same period when supplies will suffer a shortfall. The domestic water demands and supply will experience the same (but less pronounced) effect. The flora and fauna in the aquatic ecosystems (rivers and lakes) as well as in those dependent on precipitation and river flows (such as wetlands) will suffer from a quantitative reduction in summer water flows, and from increased frequency of floods and droughts. Higher summer temperatures leading to water quality degradation (through decreases in dissolved oxygen, eutrophication and algal blooms) will also adversely affect the environment. Changes in aquifer levels will also adversely affect the water balance in wetlands, which are sustained by groundwater in the low flow season. |
| Risk Future Impact |
different rating of risks for different key hazards and/or under different climate scenarios
The results for Arges and Mures basins (from the CLAVIER project, funded by the EU) indicate a likely reduction of mean annual flow in these basins of 10-15 %, for the period 2021-2050. More frequent winter floods are expected, and while torrential flood events are likely to occur more frequently, the frequency of floods with long duration and large volume is expected to decrease. Incidence of low water levels/discharges is expected to increase by 25% which will cause water shortages, especially for big users.
This will also affect users by making water intakes inoperative and hampering navigability of waterways. The summer generation from hydropower plants will be adversely affected in dry years (as they were in 1990), and therefore the operations rules will need to be reviewed and revised to ensure maximum energy production consistent with the objectives of maintaining the reliability of irrigation, industrial, and domestic water supplies. The hydropower facilities will also face increasing threat of intensive floods, and operations will also need to provide sufficient flood cushion in the storage reservoirs. Wastewater treatment will be more frequently impaired by floods, due to storm-water infiltration in sewer systems, and also due to direct inundation of treatment facilities. |
The National Climate Change and Low Carbon Green Growth Strategy and it’s Action Plan for the period 2016-2020, Decision 739/2016;
Romania's Sustainable Development Strategy, Decision 877/2018;
The National Flood Risk Management Strategy, Decision 846/2010;
The Flood Risk Management Plans, Decision nr. 972/2016;
The law on civil protection nr. 481/2004;
Emergency Ordinance on the National Emergency Management System nr. 21/2004;
The Government Decision on risk type management nr. 557/2015;
National Strategy for the Prevention of Emergency Situations, Decision nr. 762/2008;
Law on compulsory insurance of housing against earthquakes, landslides and floods, nr. 191/2015;
The 2021-2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan;
The National Rural Development Program;
The National Disaster Risk Management Plan (not adopted, currently under approval procedure). )
The National Strategy to reduce drought effects, prevent and combat land degradation and desertification on short, medium and long term
Romania's Sustainable Development Strategy, Decision 877/2018;
The National Flood Risk Management Strategy, Decision 846/2010;
The Flood Risk Management Plans, Decision nr. 972/2016;
The law on civil protection nr. 481/2004;
Emergency Ordinance on the National Emergency Management System nr. 21/2004;
The Government Decision on risk type management nr. 557/2015;
National Strategy for the Prevention of Emergency Situations, Decision nr. 762/2008;
Law on compulsory insurance of housing against earthquakes, landslides and floods, nr. 191/2015;
The 2021-2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan;
The National Rural Development Program;
The National Disaster Risk Management Plan (not adopted, currently under approval procedure). )
The National Strategy to reduce drought effects, prevent and combat land degradation and desertification on short, medium and long term
Overview of institutional arrangements and governance at the national level
Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests is the overall coordinator of adaptation policies in Romania.
NMA (National Meteorological Administration) is responsible for monitoring the meteorological parameters – such as air temperature and pressure, precipitations, humidity, wind speed and direction,. Also, NMA performs weather forecasting, climate outlooks and, projections. using climate model results and develops climate services related to climate hazards for agriculture, water management and tourism.
The National Administration "Romanian Waters" manages the waters of the public domain of the state and its infrastructure consisting of accumulation lakes, flood protection dams, canals, interbasinal diversions, water intakes and other specific works, as well as the national hydrological water quality monitoring infrastructure.
IGSU provides services related to management and emergency prevention, to keep risks under control and to ensure the safety of the human communities, through a multitude of response activities, such as fire prevention, first aid services , rescue of people and limitation of damage caused by floods, landslides, seismic movements, epidemics, snowfall, or drought.
The National Directorate of Forests - Romsilva manages the state-owned forest fund, in order to increase the contribution of forests to improving environmental conditions and ensuring the national economy with wood and other forest products and specific forestry services.
NMA (National Meteorological Administration) is responsible for monitoring the meteorological parameters – such as air temperature and pressure, precipitations, humidity, wind speed and direction,. Also, NMA performs weather forecasting, climate outlooks and, projections. using climate model results and develops climate services related to climate hazards for agriculture, water management and tourism.
The National Administration "Romanian Waters" manages the waters of the public domain of the state and its infrastructure consisting of accumulation lakes, flood protection dams, canals, interbasinal diversions, water intakes and other specific works, as well as the national hydrological water quality monitoring infrastructure.
IGSU provides services related to management and emergency prevention, to keep risks under control and to ensure the safety of the human communities, through a multitude of response activities, such as fire prevention, first aid services , rescue of people and limitation of damage caused by floods, landslides, seismic movements, epidemics, snowfall, or drought.
The National Directorate of Forests - Romsilva manages the state-owned forest fund, in order to increase the contribution of forests to improving environmental conditions and ensuring the national economy with wood and other forest products and specific forestry services.
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MEWF) is the national authority on climate change. It coordinates the integration of environmental protection requirements in national law and sectoral policies, including setting up judicial, institutional, administrative or financial instruments in order to stimulate the integration of CC in sectoral policies according to GD no. 38/2015. MEWF also has the responsibility of reporting to international and European institutions on climate change.
The institutions that have attributions in the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and revision of the adaptation policies are represented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests and subordinated institutions respectively ANM, ANAR, ROMSILVA, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and subordinated institutions, Ministry of Internal Affairs through the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU). Other institutions that collaborate with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests in the field of climate adaptation are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, Ministry of Investments and European Projects and the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization.
Also, at national level in 2014, the government adopted the Decision no. 1026/2014 for the reorganization of the National Commission on Climate Change.
In principle, the main national institutional coordination mechanism in Romania is the National Commission for Climate Change (NCCC). It was meant to create inter-ministerial coordination as well as to involve civil society in policy-making. However, although it was established in 2006, it has been operating only on an ad-hoc basis, mainly for during the period when Joint Implementation Projects needed approval. In late 2014, the legislative act establishing the commission was updated in an attempt to make it more effective. The newly reorganized NCCC is meant to be operating both at political and technical level and contains a broad range of institutions, playing a major role in strengthening the inter-institutional cooperation.
The Local Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) have 41 offices throughout Romania at the county level. These report to the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) but are also subordinated to MEWF and may report straight to it. They are responsible for the implementation of the environmental policy and legislation.
The Romanian Municipalities Association (RMA) is represented in the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, and has a representative office there. RMA also supports and assists municipalities that have signed the Covenant of Mayors in their effort to fulfil their duties. It is an associated member of ICLEI. RMA will often fundraise for implementing projects that help their constituents complete the inventory or prepare the CC action plans. Without RMA’s in fundraising and contracting expertise, many municipalities would have difficulties in submitting their CC action plans.
The organizations representing other territorial units have expressed minimal or no interest in CC issues, including the Romanian County Councils Association, Romanian Cities Association and Romanian Commune Association. There is currently little coordination between MEWF, those associations and local authorities.
There are a few non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in environmental policies, but few that focus on CC. Terra Mileniul III, who is also the founding member of the Federation Climate Action Network Romania that is comprised of 13 Romanian NGOs and is the focal point under UNFCCC article 6.
REC Romania also develop CC projects and help improve knowledge of CC challenges and energy efficiency opportunities for local authorities, NGOs and other target groups. Greenpeace Romania also carries out awareness campaigns on climate change.
The institutions that have attributions in the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and revision of the adaptation policies are represented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests and subordinated institutions respectively ANM, ANAR, ROMSILVA, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and subordinated institutions, Ministry of Internal Affairs through the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU). Other institutions that collaborate with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests in the field of climate adaptation are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, Ministry of Investments and European Projects and the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization.
Also, at national level in 2014, the government adopted the Decision no. 1026/2014 for the reorganization of the National Commission on Climate Change.
In principle, the main national institutional coordination mechanism in Romania is the National Commission for Climate Change (NCCC). It was meant to create inter-ministerial coordination as well as to involve civil society in policy-making. However, although it was established in 2006, it has been operating only on an ad-hoc basis, mainly for during the period when Joint Implementation Projects needed approval. In late 2014, the legislative act establishing the commission was updated in an attempt to make it more effective. The newly reorganized NCCC is meant to be operating both at political and technical level and contains a broad range of institutions, playing a major role in strengthening the inter-institutional cooperation.
The Local Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) have 41 offices throughout Romania at the county level. These report to the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) but are also subordinated to MEWF and may report straight to it. They are responsible for the implementation of the environmental policy and legislation.
The Romanian Municipalities Association (RMA) is represented in the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, and has a representative office there. RMA also supports and assists municipalities that have signed the Covenant of Mayors in their effort to fulfil their duties. It is an associated member of ICLEI. RMA will often fundraise for implementing projects that help their constituents complete the inventory or prepare the CC action plans. Without RMA’s in fundraising and contracting expertise, many municipalities would have difficulties in submitting their CC action plans.
The organizations representing other territorial units have expressed minimal or no interest in CC issues, including the Romanian County Councils Association, Romanian Cities Association and Romanian Commune Association. There is currently little coordination between MEWF, those associations and local authorities.
There are a few non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in environmental policies, but few that focus on CC. Terra Mileniul III, who is also the founding member of the Federation Climate Action Network Romania that is comprised of 13 Romanian NGOs and is the focal point under UNFCCC article 6.
REC Romania also develop CC projects and help improve knowledge of CC challenges and energy efficiency opportunities for local authorities, NGOs and other target groups. Greenpeace Romania also carries out awareness campaigns on climate change.
Romania transposed the Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment through Law no. 292/2018 on assessing the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment.
The authority responsible for the environmental assessment procedure is the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests and the subordinate institutions represented by the environmental protection agencies across the country.
All institutions that develop plans / projects / programs which could generate significant environmental impacts must submit and go through the environmental assessment procedure.
The authority responsible for the environmental assessment procedure is the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests and the subordinate institutions represented by the environmental protection agencies across the country.
All institutions that develop plans / projects / programs which could generate significant environmental impacts must submit and go through the environmental assessment procedure.
The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) collaborates closely with other institutions responsible for risk management.
Government Decision no. 557/2016 regarding the management of risk types establishes the assurance, at national level, of the risk type management. As follows, the IGSU is closely working together with central and/or local public administration authorities such as the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (through its subordinated institutions), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy or the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration.
Government Decision no. 557/2016 regarding the management of risk types establishes the assurance, at national level, of the risk type management. As follows, the IGSU is closely working together with central and/or local public administration authorities such as the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (through its subordinated institutions), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy or the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration.
The National Meteorological Administration (NMA) is the main organization which performs systematic observations on atmospheric climate and, to a lesser extent, on parts of sea and terrestrial climate.
NMA participates in the international meteorological data exchange with observations from a number of 23 stations in RBSN (Regional Basic Synoptic Network) and 14 stations in RBCN (Regional Basic Climatological Network). NMA freely provides a gridded daily climatic dataset over Romania (ROCADA) for nine meteorological variables (DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1757-z) The access to the meteorological data from the National Meteorological Fund is made free of charge or for a fee in compliance with the legislation in the field of meteorology and the internal regulations of the National Meteorological Administration.
NMA participates in the international meteorological data exchange with observations from a number of 23 stations in RBSN (Regional Basic Synoptic Network) and 14 stations in RBCN (Regional Basic Climatological Network). NMA freely provides a gridded daily climatic dataset over Romania (ROCADA) for nine meteorological variables (DOI: 10.1007/s11069-015-1757-z) The access to the meteorological data from the National Meteorological Fund is made free of charge or for a fee in compliance with the legislation in the field of meteorology and the internal regulations of the National Meteorological Administration.
Overview of institutional arrangements and governance at the sub-national level (where “sub-national” refers to local and regional)
At present Romania doesn’t have a specific framework only for adaptation but, as an example regarding the water management and floods, and agriculture, Romania has established certain policies and action that tackle this problem, at national level through the national strategies and policies and at sub-national level through specific actions, studies and measures implemented in certain areas.
The line ministries, different authorities, alongside and in some cases in collaboration with certain private actors are developing plans, programmes and projects that are being applied at local, regional or national levels.
One important example of collaboration is represented by the The National Commission on Climate Change or the different working groups regarding both the elaboration and preparation of plans, strategies and programmes.
One important example of collaboration is represented by the The National Commission on Climate Change or the different working groups regarding both the elaboration and preparation of plans, strategies and programmes.
Under the RO07 Adaptation to Climate Change Program through the EEA Grants 2009-2014, the Local Environment Protection Agencies from three Romanian counties (Mure?, Bra?ov and Sibiu) have developed a set of guidelines on climate change adaptation, which further underpinned their local adaptation plans.
Constant collaboration is taking place between the local environment agencies on issues relevant for adaptation, whereby they share information and knowledge in respect to measures and actions taken in their area of responsibility, and their monitoring or measurement.
A consultation is also underway between the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and the National Meteorological Administration, with a view to develop hazard and risk maps and subsequently action plans at regional level to address the nexus of adaptation and disaster risk reduction actions, with focus on recent but impactful climate hazards like urban heat stress
Constant collaboration is taking place between the local environment agencies on issues relevant for adaptation, whereby they share information and knowledge in respect to measures and actions taken in their area of responsibility, and their monitoring or measurement.
A consultation is also underway between the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and the National Meteorological Administration, with a view to develop hazard and risk maps and subsequently action plans at regional level to address the nexus of adaptation and disaster risk reduction actions, with focus on recent but impactful climate hazards like urban heat stress
In terms of adaptation priorities, the National Climate Change and Low Carbon Green Growth Strategy focuses on measures and actions for 13 priority sectors respectively, industry; agriculture and fisheries; tourism; public health; buildings and infrastructure; transport; water resources; forests; energy; biodiversity; insurance; recreation activities; and education. The proposed actions and measures tackle different types of risks and climate related events such landslides, soil erosion, storm damage, drought, floods, disease outbreaks, or the lack of access to water resources.
The main challenges, gaps and barriers to adaptation are represented by the lack of financing and institutional barriers. Due to the fact that the cooperation between different actors is dysfunctional, many of the financial sources are being lost or cannot be accessed. Another problem regarding adaptation to climate change is related to the lack of personnel that works in this field.
At present, in order to attract funding and to implement effective and efficient adaptation measures, the Romanian governmental institutions are working on establishing good relations between the different actors that have a significant role in the field of climate change adaptation.
At present, in order to attract funding and to implement effective and efficient adaptation measures, the Romanian governmental institutions are working on establishing good relations between the different actors that have a significant role in the field of climate change adaptation.
? The National climate change and low carbon green growth strategy
The strategy addresses the two key components of climate change efforts respectively mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The adaptation component includes Romania’s efforts to reduce the risks and to adapt to forest fires, droughts, hail and floods. The NAP proposes more than 125 adaptation actions that are divided in 13 action sectors. Regarding the budget of the proposed actions, the necessary amount of money for each proposed measure was estimated in the NAP for the period 2016 – 2020. The timeline of the strategy is from 2016 up to 2030.
? The 2021-2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan
Following the EU's accession to the Paris Agreement and with the publication of the EU Strategy, the Union has taken a leading role in the fight against climate change by the five prime dimensions: energy safety, decarbonisation, energy efficiency, the energy internal market, and research, innovation and competitiveness. The Plan integrates, as a priority, the objectives and strands established through the specific energy and climate strategies, at the same time being based on the programmatic documents initiated by other ministries/authorities. The plan does not contain direct budget reference. The timeline of the plan is from 2021 to 2030.
? Romania's Sustainable Development Strategy
The strategy defines Romania’s national framework for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a roadmap for achieving the 17 SDGs. This strategy promotes the sustainable development of Romania by focusing on Sustainable Development’s three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. The strategy is citizen-centred and focuses on innovation, optimism, resilience, and the belief that the role of the state is to serve the needs of each citizen in a fair, efficient, and balanced manner, all within a clean environment.
The document does not contain information regarding the budget. The timeline for the strategy is from 2019 up to 2030.
? The National Flood Risk Management Strategy
The strategy establishes the necessary measures that need to be implemented in order to reduce the risks associated with dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomena, including elaboration of hazard and flood risk maps, the elaboration of flood risk management plants for basins as well as updating of the existing flood management defence plans.
? The Flood Risk Management Plans
The plan has the main objective to reduce the negative consequences of floods for the safety of citizens, human health, economic activity, environment and cultural heritage. The plan contains structural and non-structural measures in 5 areas of action respectively, prevention, precaution, preparedness, public awareness, recovery/reconstruction and 3 categories, depending on the level of application, respectively, national measures, basin level measures and area level measures.
? The National Disaster Risk Management Plan (currently under approval procedure).
The Plan analyses the country risk profile as well as the necessary measures needed to be taken in order to react to the identified risks. The timeline of the plan is from 2021 to 2027. Regarding the budget of the proposed actions, the plan describes financial information related to certain investment programmes, loans, EU funding, Norwegian Financial Mechanism and other sources of funding.
? The National Rural Development Program
The National Rural Development Program 2014 - 2020 (PNDR 2020) is the Program through which non-reimbursable funds are granted from the European Union and the Government of Romania for the economic and social development of the rural space in Romania. The technical and financial implementation is ensured by the Agency for the Financing of Rural Investments. Farmers, processors, entrepreneurs and local public authorities have at their disposal approximately 9 billion euros, non-reimbursable European funds to make investments at European standards, efficient and profitable.
? The National Strategy for mitigating the effects of drought and combating land degradation and desertification on short, medium and long term (https://maap.ro/[…]/strategie_antiseceta_update_09.05.2008.pdf )
The general objective of the strategy is to indicate actions to be taken in the short, medium and long term, to reduce the vulnerability of local communities, natural eco-systems and socio-economic activities and mitigate the effects of their social, economic and environmental impacts.
The strategy is complemented by a set of 57 measures altogether (51 short-term, 3 medium-term and 3 long-term measures), divided according to their local, regional, national or international scope.
The strategy addresses the two key components of climate change efforts respectively mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The adaptation component includes Romania’s efforts to reduce the risks and to adapt to forest fires, droughts, hail and floods. The NAP proposes more than 125 adaptation actions that are divided in 13 action sectors. Regarding the budget of the proposed actions, the necessary amount of money for each proposed measure was estimated in the NAP for the period 2016 – 2020. The timeline of the strategy is from 2016 up to 2030.
? The 2021-2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan
Following the EU's accession to the Paris Agreement and with the publication of the EU Strategy, the Union has taken a leading role in the fight against climate change by the five prime dimensions: energy safety, decarbonisation, energy efficiency, the energy internal market, and research, innovation and competitiveness. The Plan integrates, as a priority, the objectives and strands established through the specific energy and climate strategies, at the same time being based on the programmatic documents initiated by other ministries/authorities. The plan does not contain direct budget reference. The timeline of the plan is from 2021 to 2030.
? Romania's Sustainable Development Strategy
The strategy defines Romania’s national framework for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a roadmap for achieving the 17 SDGs. This strategy promotes the sustainable development of Romania by focusing on Sustainable Development’s three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. The strategy is citizen-centred and focuses on innovation, optimism, resilience, and the belief that the role of the state is to serve the needs of each citizen in a fair, efficient, and balanced manner, all within a clean environment.
The document does not contain information regarding the budget. The timeline for the strategy is from 2019 up to 2030.
? The National Flood Risk Management Strategy
The strategy establishes the necessary measures that need to be implemented in order to reduce the risks associated with dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomena, including elaboration of hazard and flood risk maps, the elaboration of flood risk management plants for basins as well as updating of the existing flood management defence plans.
? The Flood Risk Management Plans
The plan has the main objective to reduce the negative consequences of floods for the safety of citizens, human health, economic activity, environment and cultural heritage. The plan contains structural and non-structural measures in 5 areas of action respectively, prevention, precaution, preparedness, public awareness, recovery/reconstruction and 3 categories, depending on the level of application, respectively, national measures, basin level measures and area level measures.
? The National Disaster Risk Management Plan (currently under approval procedure).
The Plan analyses the country risk profile as well as the necessary measures needed to be taken in order to react to the identified risks. The timeline of the plan is from 2021 to 2027. Regarding the budget of the proposed actions, the plan describes financial information related to certain investment programmes, loans, EU funding, Norwegian Financial Mechanism and other sources of funding.
? The National Rural Development Program
The National Rural Development Program 2014 - 2020 (PNDR 2020) is the Program through which non-reimbursable funds are granted from the European Union and the Government of Romania for the economic and social development of the rural space in Romania. The technical and financial implementation is ensured by the Agency for the Financing of Rural Investments. Farmers, processors, entrepreneurs and local public authorities have at their disposal approximately 9 billion euros, non-reimbursable European funds to make investments at European standards, efficient and profitable.
? The National Strategy for mitigating the effects of drought and combating land degradation and desertification on short, medium and long term (https://maap.ro/[…]/strategie_antiseceta_update_09.05.2008.pdf )
The general objective of the strategy is to indicate actions to be taken in the short, medium and long term, to reduce the vulnerability of local communities, natural eco-systems and socio-economic activities and mitigate the effects of their social, economic and environmental impacts.
The strategy is complemented by a set of 57 measures altogether (51 short-term, 3 medium-term and 3 long-term measures), divided according to their local, regional, national or international scope.
Selection of actions and (programmes of) measures
Not reported
A number of 16 Romanian cities with a cumulated population of over 1, 58 million citizens have submitted to date adaptation action plans as part of their Sustainable Energy and Action Plans under the Covenant of Mayors. Half of them are big municipalities with at least 95,000 inhabitants.
This is a progress compared with the situation as of 2018, with 11 Romanian Covenant cities at the time employing such adaptation action plans.
From the plans that were made public on municipalities’ websites, one common feature that could be draw is the focus on 2030 (medium term) as relevant outlook for the implementation of action. Some municipalities have developed a broader vision for adaptation action towards 2050, with 2030 representing a landmark for the review and revision of their adaptation strategy.
Sectoral areas of action include infrastructure and urban development, health, biodiversity, tourism, and the educational, information and awareness dimension.
In some cases, the plans set out a system to monitor and evaluate their implementation.
Additionally, there is a growing trend at local level in developing enforcing plans of measures aiming to address the effects of drought and heat waves. They vary from smaller villages or cities in the range of 5,000 citizens or less to municipalities with almost 300,00 citizens (like the municipality of Brasov, situated in the central part of Romania).
Such plans are also developed in some cases at county level (Romania is divided in 8 regions and 41 counties plus the capital Bucharest).
Three important programs are currently enabling further scale up of adaptation action at sub-national level:
• SmartEdge - Metropolitan Cities - The impact of heat islands and how to prevent their formation, by mitigating influences from peripheral areas of metropolitan cities (€ 1,39 million, funded through INTERREG envelope, under implementation).
• € 1 million small grants scheme for supporting the development of mitigation and adaptation plans in Romanian municipalities (call launched, currently in the process of receiving applications)
And a massive € 7,45 million call for proposals of projects to implemen mitigation and adaptation plans in municipalities, set for release in the first quarter of year 2022..
This is a progress compared with the situation as of 2018, with 11 Romanian Covenant cities at the time employing such adaptation action plans.
From the plans that were made public on municipalities’ websites, one common feature that could be draw is the focus on 2030 (medium term) as relevant outlook for the implementation of action. Some municipalities have developed a broader vision for adaptation action towards 2050, with 2030 representing a landmark for the review and revision of their adaptation strategy.
Sectoral areas of action include infrastructure and urban development, health, biodiversity, tourism, and the educational, information and awareness dimension.
In some cases, the plans set out a system to monitor and evaluate their implementation.
Additionally, there is a growing trend at local level in developing enforcing plans of measures aiming to address the effects of drought and heat waves. They vary from smaller villages or cities in the range of 5,000 citizens or less to municipalities with almost 300,00 citizens (like the municipality of Brasov, situated in the central part of Romania).
Such plans are also developed in some cases at county level (Romania is divided in 8 regions and 41 counties plus the capital Bucharest).
Three important programs are currently enabling further scale up of adaptation action at sub-national level:
• SmartEdge - Metropolitan Cities - The impact of heat islands and how to prevent their formation, by mitigating influences from peripheral areas of metropolitan cities (€ 1,39 million, funded through INTERREG envelope, under implementation).
• € 1 million small grants scheme for supporting the development of mitigation and adaptation plans in Romanian municipalities (call launched, currently in the process of receiving applications)
And a massive € 7,45 million call for proposals of projects to implemen mitigation and adaptation plans in municipalities, set for release in the first quarter of year 2022..
The NAS 2016-2030 mentions the need to update current building and infrastructure codes and norms in view of climate change and extreme events. The NAP also sets out a series of actions with respect to the human environment, infrastructure and urbanism, such as: improving the integration of climate change considerations in sectoral planning processes; providing capacity-building to local authorities regarding the integration of climate change considerations in spatial planning documents and processes; investing in climate resilient infrastructure; and modifying building codes and norms.
Also, also all projects, plans and programs are subject to the environmental assessment procedure.
Romania is making efforts to develop national and regional risk management plans to incorporate risk reduction approaches. To drive this overall process, a multi-hazard approach has been increasingly shaping how Romania manages disaster risks. Such an approach involves translating and linking knowledge of the full range of hazards into risk management strategies, assessments, and analysis, leading to greater effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. To illustrate this recent shift, Romania recently finalized an integrated national risk assessment through an EU project (RO-RISK 2016–2018), which seeks to offer a set of tools to local authorities for multi-hazard analysis that can inform sustainable land use policies.
Coordination between the central ministry and the local bodies, and the involvement of other departments in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, requires further strengthening. The Government Emergency Ordinance 21/15.04.2004 established that the national authority responsible for multi-sectoral coordination is the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (NCSES), through the Department of Emergency Situations and the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (GIES). Under these acts, sectoral institutions have the responsibility to draw up plans which are then coordinated by the NCSES. Institutional capacity and resources are significant, and are designed to ensure effective response to natural, man-made, and biological disasters. Recently, GD no. 557/2016 on risk management was adopted. This act defined the obligation of authorities to draw up sectoral plans to provide specific emergency management. The coordination of the whole process is also ensured by the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (NCSES). Despite considerable progress, Romania also faces challenges in sustaining the commitments of authorities, especially at the local levels. Even if local authorities have annual funds dedicated for disaster risk management, the funds are often redirected for other purposes.
Also, in the context of preparing the operational programs financed from certain funds the line ministries are working together in order to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into their plans as well.
Also, also all projects, plans and programs are subject to the environmental assessment procedure.
Romania is making efforts to develop national and regional risk management plans to incorporate risk reduction approaches. To drive this overall process, a multi-hazard approach has been increasingly shaping how Romania manages disaster risks. Such an approach involves translating and linking knowledge of the full range of hazards into risk management strategies, assessments, and analysis, leading to greater effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. To illustrate this recent shift, Romania recently finalized an integrated national risk assessment through an EU project (RO-RISK 2016–2018), which seeks to offer a set of tools to local authorities for multi-hazard analysis that can inform sustainable land use policies.
Coordination between the central ministry and the local bodies, and the involvement of other departments in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, requires further strengthening. The Government Emergency Ordinance 21/15.04.2004 established that the national authority responsible for multi-sectoral coordination is the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (NCSES), through the Department of Emergency Situations and the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (GIES). Under these acts, sectoral institutions have the responsibility to draw up plans which are then coordinated by the NCSES. Institutional capacity and resources are significant, and are designed to ensure effective response to natural, man-made, and biological disasters. Recently, GD no. 557/2016 on risk management was adopted. This act defined the obligation of authorities to draw up sectoral plans to provide specific emergency management. The coordination of the whole process is also ensured by the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations (NCSES). Despite considerable progress, Romania also faces challenges in sustaining the commitments of authorities, especially at the local levels. Even if local authorities have annual funds dedicated for disaster risk management, the funds are often redirected for other purposes.
Also, in the context of preparing the operational programs financed from certain funds the line ministries are working together in order to mainstream climate change adaptation measures into their plans as well.
However, information regarding progress in the implementation of these actions could not be found.
The Territorial Development Strategy of Romania (Strategia de Dezvoltare Teritoriala a României, URL: http://www.fonduri-structurale.ro/[…]/7hctm_Anexe.pdf, date accessed: 16/05/2018.) adopted in 2016 mentions measures related to climate adaptation, for example, protecting cities, rural areas, and natural habitats from climate risks, preventing natural disasters, and developing urban green space and green belts surrounding urban areas.
In terms of individual projects contributing to the integration of climate adaptation in these sectors, the pilot project RO 007 - Greenways for Sustainable Development contributed to increasing the resilience of transport and communications infrastructure to extreme weather, storms, and floods. A pilot project on the creation of underground infrastructure of electricity/communication cables in Sibiu aimed at protecting the electricity and communication systems against storms and floods. The project also involved tree planting in bus stations to increase thermal comfort of public transport users.
The Territorial Development Strategy of Romania (Strategia de Dezvoltare Teritoriala a României, URL: http://www.fonduri-structurale.ro/[…]/7hctm_Anexe.pdf, date accessed: 16/05/2018.) adopted in 2016 mentions measures related to climate adaptation, for example, protecting cities, rural areas, and natural habitats from climate risks, preventing natural disasters, and developing urban green space and green belts surrounding urban areas.
In terms of individual projects contributing to the integration of climate adaptation in these sectors, the pilot project RO 007 - Greenways for Sustainable Development contributed to increasing the resilience of transport and communications infrastructure to extreme weather, storms, and floods. A pilot project on the creation of underground infrastructure of electricity/communication cables in Sibiu aimed at protecting the electricity and communication systems against storms and floods. The project also involved tree planting in bus stations to increase thermal comfort of public transport users.
While there is still scarce evidence on the engagement with the private sector, several important projects have taken off or have been finalised recently, with the relevant involvement or benefitting the private sector.
In general, stakeholders, including some from the private sector were actively involved in the development of the National Adaptation Strategy 2013-2020 included the research sector (represented by several research institutes) and an NGO active in tackling climate change. Furthermore, during a self-assessment exercise carried out by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in 2013, the Romanian authorities reported that the private sector, various interest groups and the wider public were duly informed and consulted during the process.
One important measure recently carried out is the investment in the construction of the Metro Line 5 in Bucharest, to enable the public transport network to reach new neighbourhoods in Romania's capital city, providing easier access to the city centre for the people who live there, reducing road traffic, and subsequently the air pollution, the greenhouse gas emissions and the urban heat effect, among others. Bucharest's metro system is being extended to reach the Drumul Taberei area, including Valea Ialomitei and Râul Doamnei, with the construction of a new line stretching to the neighbourhood from the existing Eroilor station. It aims to shorten the time it takes to travel on this route by about 21 minutes. This is an important benefit to the 335 000 residents of Drumul Taberei and the surrounding areas – of which more than half are expected to use the line. The lead implementer is Metrorex, the national metro company.
Under the European Climate Initative (EUKI), a consortium of partners from Romania and Germany will undertake a project (EDAPHIC-BLOOM DANUBE) to assess the climate change impact in terrestrial vegetation and soils in the Lower Danube Plains & Danube Delta and towards Setting up a Cluster for Sustainable Development of the Lower Danube Plain and Danube Delta (involving Romanian central and local authorities, universities and research institutes from Romania and Germany, SME-s and NGO-s).
Furthermore, an important project is under implementation under the Operational Program for Administrative Capacity (Cohesion Fund, € 7,6 million jointly with the waste management component), aiming to strengthen the evidence base policies and develop simplified procedures for reducing the administrative burden of the business sector in implementing climate action. Under the same Operational Program, the RO-ADAPT project is underway with the main objective of building capacity for (primarily) climate adaptation policies, which will benefit the private sector.
In general, stakeholders, including some from the private sector were actively involved in the development of the National Adaptation Strategy 2013-2020 included the research sector (represented by several research institutes) and an NGO active in tackling climate change. Furthermore, during a self-assessment exercise carried out by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in 2013, the Romanian authorities reported that the private sector, various interest groups and the wider public were duly informed and consulted during the process.
One important measure recently carried out is the investment in the construction of the Metro Line 5 in Bucharest, to enable the public transport network to reach new neighbourhoods in Romania's capital city, providing easier access to the city centre for the people who live there, reducing road traffic, and subsequently the air pollution, the greenhouse gas emissions and the urban heat effect, among others. Bucharest's metro system is being extended to reach the Drumul Taberei area, including Valea Ialomitei and Râul Doamnei, with the construction of a new line stretching to the neighbourhood from the existing Eroilor station. It aims to shorten the time it takes to travel on this route by about 21 minutes. This is an important benefit to the 335 000 residents of Drumul Taberei and the surrounding areas – of which more than half are expected to use the line. The lead implementer is Metrorex, the national metro company.
Under the European Climate Initative (EUKI), a consortium of partners from Romania and Germany will undertake a project (EDAPHIC-BLOOM DANUBE) to assess the climate change impact in terrestrial vegetation and soils in the Lower Danube Plains & Danube Delta and towards Setting up a Cluster for Sustainable Development of the Lower Danube Plain and Danube Delta (involving Romanian central and local authorities, universities and research institutes from Romania and Germany, SME-s and NGO-s).
Furthermore, an important project is under implementation under the Operational Program for Administrative Capacity (Cohesion Fund, € 7,6 million jointly with the waste management component), aiming to strengthen the evidence base policies and develop simplified procedures for reducing the administrative burden of the business sector in implementing climate action. Under the same Operational Program, the RO-ADAPT project is underway with the main objective of building capacity for (primarily) climate adaptation policies, which will benefit the private sector.
Regarding the monitoring, reporting and evaluation (MRE) methodology related to reducing climate impacts, vulnerabilities, risks, and increasing adaptive capacity, according to the environmental approval of the NAS and NAP for the period 2016-2020, the responsible entities were reporting annually to the Ministry of Environment Water and Forests the registered progress regarding the actions included in the NAP.
The NAP includes several metrics or benchmarks, mostly process-based, for the implementation such the type of action, objective, timeline, responsible institutions, result indicators/unit measures, and estimated resources and their source of financing.
The NAP includes several metrics or benchmarks, mostly process-based, for the implementation such the type of action, objective, timeline, responsible institutions, result indicators/unit measures, and estimated resources and their source of financing.
The progress registered by the responsible entities for the measures included in the 2016-2020 NAP was reported annually to the Ministry of Environment Water and Forests.
Over the period 2016-2020, the following studies have been started as follows:
1. Periodic update of climate scenarios using regional climate models for climate adaptation in Romania and impact assessment in the agriculture sector
2. Assessing the impact of climate change in the water resources sector based on the regular updating of climate change scenarios in Romania
3. Continuation of studies such as "Identifying the main potentially deficient areas in terms of water resources, at national level, in the current regime and in the perspective of climate change", in the context of the effects of climate change
4. Carrying out an analysis to assess the specific levels and types of irrigated agriculture that can be sustained in each of the river basins, taking into account the impacts of climate change.
5. Analysis of scenarios on the effect of climate change on the forest and the need to adapt forestry operations to new climatic conditions
6. Simulating the future distribution of species in the context of climate change and prioritizing areas where changes in the composition of forests can take place to adapt to climate change
7. Ongoing research into genetic resources and the implications of climate change for forest genetic resources
8. Revision of the network of genetic resources for forest species
9. Continue research to better understand the effects of climate change on forests and to identify scientifically sound solutions for practical action against forest pests, forest drying and invasive species evolution
10. Ongoing research to understand the impact of the effects of climate change on forests to mitigate the effects of landslides, droughts, and support the process of water resources management.
11. Development of environmental monitoring activities by conducting research studies of factors with the potential to adversely affect public health
1. Periodic update of climate scenarios using regional climate models for climate adaptation in Romania and impact assessment in the agriculture sector
2. Assessing the impact of climate change in the water resources sector based on the regular updating of climate change scenarios in Romania
3. Continuation of studies such as "Identifying the main potentially deficient areas in terms of water resources, at national level, in the current regime and in the perspective of climate change", in the context of the effects of climate change
4. Carrying out an analysis to assess the specific levels and types of irrigated agriculture that can be sustained in each of the river basins, taking into account the impacts of climate change.
5. Analysis of scenarios on the effect of climate change on the forest and the need to adapt forestry operations to new climatic conditions
6. Simulating the future distribution of species in the context of climate change and prioritizing areas where changes in the composition of forests can take place to adapt to climate change
7. Ongoing research into genetic resources and the implications of climate change for forest genetic resources
8. Revision of the network of genetic resources for forest species
9. Continue research to better understand the effects of climate change on forests and to identify scientifically sound solutions for practical action against forest pests, forest drying and invasive species evolution
10. Ongoing research to understand the impact of the effects of climate change on forests to mitigate the effects of landslides, droughts, and support the process of water resources management.
11. Development of environmental monitoring activities by conducting research studies of factors with the potential to adversely affect public health
Under the EU 2014 – 2020 budget, Romania has committed € 2.419 million for climate change adaptation and risk preventions measures (approx. € 575 million under the Cohesion Fund and € 1.844 million under the European Agriculture and Rural Development Fund). This level was increased by including measures financed through the European Regional Development Fund, leading to a final decided amount of approx. € 2,98 billion (excluding multi-thematic allocation).
To date, € 1,59 billion out of the € 2,98 billion climate earmarked funds have been spent, which represents 67% of the money committed for climate expenditures.
To date, € 1,59 billion out of the € 2,98 billion climate earmarked funds have been spent, which represents 67% of the money committed for climate expenditures.
From the 2016-2020 NAP, over 11 main studies have been started with each one of them being in a different phase of implementation.
The overall estimated costs for the studies are as follow:
1. Periodic update of climate scenarios using regional climate models for climate adaptation in Romania and impact assessment in the agriculture sector – 0,3 mil. €;
2. Assessing the impact of climate change in the water resources sector based on the regular updating of climate change scenarios in Romania – 0,3 mil. €;
3. Continuation of studies such as "Identifying the main potentially deficient areas in terms of water resources, at national level, in the current regime and in the perspective of climate change", in the context of the effects of climate change – N/A;
4. Carrying out an analysis to assess the specific levels and types of irrigated agriculture that can be sustained in each of the river basins, taking into account the impacts of climate change – N/A;
5. Analysis of scenarios on the effect of climate change on the forest and the need to adapt forestry operations to new climatic conditions – 0,5 mil. €;
6. Simulating the future distribution of species in the context of climate change and prioritizing areas where changes in the composition of forests can take place to adapt to climate change – 0,5 mil. €;
7. Ongoing research into genetic resources and the implications of climate change for forest genetic resources – 0,5 mil. €;
8. Revision of the network of genetic resources for forest species – 0,5 mil. €;
9. Continue research to better understand the effects of climate change on forests and to identify scientifically sound solutions for practical action against forest pests, forest drying and invasive species evolution – 2 mil. €;
10. Ongoing research to understand the impact of the effects of climate change on forests to mitigate the effects of landslides, droughts, and support the process of water resources management – 2 mil. €;
11. Development of environmental monitoring activities by conducting research studies of factors with the potential to adversely affect public health – 2 mil. €.
The overall estimated costs for the studies are as follow:
1. Periodic update of climate scenarios using regional climate models for climate adaptation in Romania and impact assessment in the agriculture sector – 0,3 mil. €;
2. Assessing the impact of climate change in the water resources sector based on the regular updating of climate change scenarios in Romania – 0,3 mil. €;
3. Continuation of studies such as "Identifying the main potentially deficient areas in terms of water resources, at national level, in the current regime and in the perspective of climate change", in the context of the effects of climate change – N/A;
4. Carrying out an analysis to assess the specific levels and types of irrigated agriculture that can be sustained in each of the river basins, taking into account the impacts of climate change – N/A;
5. Analysis of scenarios on the effect of climate change on the forest and the need to adapt forestry operations to new climatic conditions – 0,5 mil. €;
6. Simulating the future distribution of species in the context of climate change and prioritizing areas where changes in the composition of forests can take place to adapt to climate change – 0,5 mil. €;
7. Ongoing research into genetic resources and the implications of climate change for forest genetic resources – 0,5 mil. €;
8. Revision of the network of genetic resources for forest species – 0,5 mil. €;
9. Continue research to better understand the effects of climate change on forests and to identify scientifically sound solutions for practical action against forest pests, forest drying and invasive species evolution – 2 mil. €;
10. Ongoing research to understand the impact of the effects of climate change on forests to mitigate the effects of landslides, droughts, and support the process of water resources management – 2 mil. €;
11. Development of environmental monitoring activities by conducting research studies of factors with the potential to adversely affect public health – 2 mil. €.
The progress towards reducing climate impacts, vulnerabilities and risks can be described by the recent strategies and plans that were adopted or that are being under revision such as the NAS and NAP.
Also at present, different stakeholders are implementing certain adaptation projects in different fields.
Also at present, different stakeholders are implementing certain adaptation projects in different fields.
Several aspects are highlighting the progress in increasing the adaptive capacity in recent years:
• The growing number of cities taking action under the Covenant of Mayors (16 cities currently, growing from 11 cities as of 2018);
• The reorganisation of the National Commission for Climate Change (NCCC).via the Governmental Decision 26/2014, as a framework that enhances inter-ministerial coordination towards meeting Romania’s climate objectives.
• The creation of a climate working group created under the Presidential Administration and the ongoing work ongoing in an Inter-ministerial Committee for Sustainable Development.
• The relative high rate of mainstreaming and implementation of climate actions in the sectoral measures financed via the European Structural and Investment Funds.
• The strengthening of join action on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation at national level.
• Recent incipient actions of the finance and banking sector to take into consideration climate risks in their risk assessments.
• The ongoing implementation of adaptation measures, including capacity building measures that are part of the national climate action plan 2016 – 2020.
• The growing number of cities taking action under the Covenant of Mayors (16 cities currently, growing from 11 cities as of 2018);
• The reorganisation of the National Commission for Climate Change (NCCC).via the Governmental Decision 26/2014, as a framework that enhances inter-ministerial coordination towards meeting Romania’s climate objectives.
• The creation of a climate working group created under the Presidential Administration and the ongoing work ongoing in an Inter-ministerial Committee for Sustainable Development.
• The relative high rate of mainstreaming and implementation of climate actions in the sectoral measures financed via the European Structural and Investment Funds.
• The strengthening of join action on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation at national level.
• Recent incipient actions of the finance and banking sector to take into consideration climate risks in their risk assessments.
• The ongoing implementation of adaptation measures, including capacity building measures that are part of the national climate action plan 2016 – 2020.
From a total of 35 main studies from the NAP for the period 2016-2020, Romania has started 11 of them in different fields as follows:
One study in the field of agriculture and rural development, three studies in the field of water and drinking water, six studies in the field of forestry and one study in the field of public health and emergency response services.
One study in the field of agriculture and rural development, three studies in the field of water and drinking water, six studies in the field of forestry and one study in the field of public health and emergency response services.
All the studies stated above are targeting research and innovation and are addressing the barriers to adaptation.
Through the RO-RISK project, IGSU developed specific tools to support the authorities with responsibilities in risk management in disaster risk assessment (assessment methodology and WebGIS platform). The partners ensured the assessment of about 50 risk scenarios, of which 10 for the risk of floods and 5 for the risks of drought, respectively forest fires. Through the project P166302 - Strengthening Disaster Risk Management, these tools will be improved and adapted to multi-risk scenarios, so that the contracted companies evaluate 6 multi-risk scenarios.
As mentioned before, at present Romania is revising its National Adaptation Strategy while also working at a new National Adaptation Plan. Moreover, at present, the authorities are working on a new Strategy for Disaster Risk Management.
As mentioned at previous points, the government is revising the NAS while also working on a new NAP.
NMA participated under the RO07 Adaptation to Climate Change Program through the EEA Grants 2009-2014, to “Green Path to Sustainable Development'' project where developed 5 national guidelines on climate change adaptation:
? „Meteo study regarding climate analysis of representative data for the basis of the development of regional strategies for Brasov, Sibiu and Târgu-Mures municipalities”
? „Data collection and mapping - study regarding the development of climatic resources (1961-2010) for the development of regional policies for management meteo extreme phenomena”
? „Determination of potential energy resources (wind and solar) as the basis for the development of alternative energy systems”
? Study of the numerical design experiments that involves the climate regional model on the level of the Region 7 Centre, intended to obtain details of climate variability and changes with very fine resolutions (10 km)”
? „Guidelines for adapting agricultural technologies to climate changes in the Region 7 Centre”
http://caleaverde.ro/
NMA participated under the RO07 Adaptation to Climate Change Program through the EEA Grants 2009-2014, to “Green Path to Sustainable Development'' project where developed 5 national guidelines on climate change adaptation:
? „Meteo study regarding climate analysis of representative data for the basis of the development of regional strategies for Brasov, Sibiu and Târgu-Mures municipalities”
? „Data collection and mapping - study regarding the development of climatic resources (1961-2010) for the development of regional policies for management meteo extreme phenomena”
? „Determination of potential energy resources (wind and solar) as the basis for the development of alternative energy systems”
? Study of the numerical design experiments that involves the climate regional model on the level of the Region 7 Centre, intended to obtain details of climate variability and changes with very fine resolutions (10 km)”
? „Guidelines for adapting agricultural technologies to climate changes in the Region 7 Centre”
http://caleaverde.ro/
Good practices and lessons learnt
Not reported
NMA within transnational collaboration between 14 partners from 9 different countries to the CAMARO-D project, developed an innovative transnational Guidance For Sustainable Land Use Planning (GUIDR) as a practically oriented decision support tool for the relevant stakeholders and decision-makers (http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/camaro-d).
NMA and 14 partners from 9 countries involved into an transnational cooperation (CAMARO-D) signed a common Declaration for Cooperation for the further develop various kinds of cooperation, acknowledging the importance of the coordination within the Danube river basin, taking into account the need for concerted actions and for promotion of the thematic field “protection of water resources and prevention of floods” for the general public while fostering the cooperation in the field of strategic policy.
In the framework of the project “Joint Disaster Management risk assessment and preparedness in the Danube macro-region”, NMA collaborated for improvement of coherence and consistency among risk assessments undertaken by the countries at national and local level, and especially in case of disasters intensified by climate change in the Danube macroregion. In the framework of the SEERISK project a Common risk assessment methodology for the Danube Macro-region and a Guideline for climate change adaptation and risk assessment in the Danube Macro-region were elaborated (http://www.seeriskproject.eu/seerisk/).
In the framework of the project “Joint Disaster Management risk assessment and preparedness in the Danube macro-region”, NMA collaborated for improvement of coherence and consistency among risk assessments undertaken by the countries at national and local level, and especially in case of disasters intensified by climate change in the Danube macroregion. In the framework of the SEERISK project a Common risk assessment methodology for the Danube Macro-region and a Guideline for climate change adaptation and risk assessment in the Danube Macro-region were elaborated (http://www.seeriskproject.eu/seerisk/).
Into the DRIDANUBE project, ANM created a network of communicators (beneficiaries) by using questionnaires responses, contributed to estimating the impact of the drought phenomenon both in Romania and in the agricultural areas of the partner countries in the Danube region. This transnational cooperation led to improve the response to drought emergencies (strategy) and better cooperation between operational services and decision-making authorities in the Danube region at national and regional level (http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/dridanube).
Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests
Directorate of Climate Change and Sustainable Development
coordinating adaptation policies and responsible for reporting
Laurentiu RADU
Counselor, Lead Reporter
Relevant websites and social media source
[Disclaimer]
The information presented in these pages is based on the reporting according to 'Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action' and updates by the EEA member countries. However, for those pages where the information is last updated before 01/01/2021, the information presented is based on the reporting according to 'Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information relevant to climate change' and updates by the EEA member countries.'