Implications for the EU of cross-border climate change impacts - Deliverable D3A.2

Climate change impacts in one area of the world are likely to have repercussions elsewhere, strongly implying a need for enhanced international cooperation for adaptation.

This report is a deliverable of the IMPRESSIONS project and aims to review the indirect, cross-border implications for Europe of climate change impacts occurring outside Europe, to fill the gap around how and why climate change outside Europe might affect the EU. A second aim was to assess the implications of cross-border impacts for the external functions of the EU. This deliverable also offers insights into how the EU’s external functions might be affected by cross-border climate change impacts in general and explores the potential roles of the EU in addressing cross-border impacts both within and beyond Europe.

The report identifies climate risk pathways that connect distant countries within and beyond the EU. These pathways are useful for identifying different types of impacts, and ultimately for assigning responsibility for adaptation to specific EU external functions. The importance of each risk pathway and the range of risks facing the EU in the future will vary depending on future socio-economic developments, as well as on the level of future climate change. 

The problem addressed in this report is how decision-makers at the EU level can begin to incorporate cross-border climate change impacts into the adaptation portfolio. The report is intended for stakeholders – including employees of the European Commission, European External Action Service, European Parliament and the European Council, as well as their support institutions, and policy-makers at the member state level. It is also intended to be of interest to researchers and consultants supporting adaptation decision-making and climate risk identification and assessment at various scales: local, national, European and global.