Guidelines on developing adaptation strategies

This Commission Staff Working Document from European Commission contributes to achieving the first objective of the EU Adaptation Strategy. It provides a first answer to identified barriers to the uptake of adaptation strategies at national level. It builds on and aims to make more operational the so-called Adaptation Support tool, one of the key features of Climate-ADAPT. This tool was developed together with Member States and other stakeholders during the preparation of Climate-ADAPT.

This document covers a wide spectrum of issues to be addressed when developing adaptation policy-making, from local adaptation strategies to sectoral aspects, but they also show a gap, as no resources currently target adaptation policy-making for EU Member States. The guidelines intend to advance a common understanding of important aspects relevant to any adaptation process and provide clear terms of reference on how to address the above-mentioned barriers. They highlight key principles for successful adaptation processes and deliver a common basis for cooperative adaptation activities between different actors/stakeholders. In addition, the guidelines present various approaches taken by EU Member States in order to foster knowledge transfer and lessons learnt among them.