Climate Change and Water, Coasts and Marine issues

Commission staff working document accompanying the White paper - Adapting to climate change: towards a European framework for action Climate Change and Water, Coasts and Marine Issues (2009)

In April 2009 the European Commission presented a White Paper on adapting to climate change which presents the framework for adaptation measures and policies to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The White Paper highlights the need "to promote strategies which increase the resilience to climate change of health, property and the productive functions of land, inter alia by improving the management of water resources and ecosystems.“ The accompanying Impact assessment and the Policy paper on Water, Coasts and Marine issues provide an in-depth analysis of the role of water and ecosystems in the transmission of potential climate change impacts to the economy and society. The IA also describes the potential for ecosystem-based adaptation approaches and the need to properly assess the environmental impact of adaptation measures and policies.