Strategically addressing climate change in the Euskirchen county, Germany

Key Learnings

About the Region

Climate threats

In the county of Euskirchen, the annual mean air temperatures have significantly increased over the past 150 years. This is illustrated through the warming stripes in the figure below covering 1881 to 2022, where each line represents the average temperature of the respective year. Cooler years in the county of Euskirchen are blue, average years are light blue to light orange and warmer years are red to dark red. The trend towards higher air temperatures becomes apparent, as orange and red colours have become more prominent in recent years.

Due to the warming climate, the county is increasingly facing problems caused by heat and droughts, extreme rainfall events, storms, and invasive species. Furthermore, water management in the county is especially sensitive to climate change-induced challenges, as the groundwater level has been lowered by 90 metres because of lignite mining. To respond to these challenges, while addressing the risks and potential opportunities, the Euskirchen county administration and its local authorities are developing a comprehensive adaptation strategy which complements the existing climate change mitigation strategy.

Initiating the development of an adaptation strategy

In the initial phase, the county administration of Euskirchen organised a discussion round with representatives of the municipalities and county, as well as experts from external organisations. This helped to raise awareness about the intensification of climate impacts affecting the county, laying the groundwork for a political decision by the county council advocating the need for a comprehensive adaptation strategy. From 2019 to 2021, a project consortium of three consulting firms supported county Euskirchen in formulating this strategy. Half of the costs were funded by the national climate adaptation funding programme of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.

The involvement of all relevant stakeholders before the strategy was adopted was a key success factor in the whole process. Expert interviews with representatives from the different administrative units in the county and the municipalities were conducted to analyse the vulnerability to climate change in different action areas and to take stock of existing activities. This formed the basis for developing and prioritising possible adaptation measures. Moreover, interviews with representatives from the municipalities ensured that the steps were tailored to the specific local circumstances.

Climate change adaptation is one of the most difficult challenges of the next century. I am glad that our county has already developed a strategy to handle these challenges.

Markus Ramers, County Administrator Landkreis Euskirchen

The climate change adaptation strategy includes 25 flagship measures that focus on the relevant leverage points, exploit synergies with other projects and initiatives, and provide short- and medium-term impetus for climate change adaptation.

Implementing the strategy

Upon the completion and approval of the strategy, a formal decision was made to initiate its implementation. To support this, a dedicated staff position is funded by the National Climate Protection Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection as part of the "KSI: Climate Protection Management for the implementation of the Climate Protection sub-strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the county Euskirchen - initial project". It focuses on implementing small and easily attainable projects in the beginning to yield success stories, thereby facilitating the implementation of more far-reaching measures.

Difficulties and success factors

The early stakeholder involvement played a crucial role in establishing consensus on adopting a strategic approach to climate change adaptation. Additionally, the availability of funding by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection decided to tackle adaptation in a comprehensive way more easily. This is because financial and human resources constraints are the main barriers to effective climate change adaptation.

The consultation of stakeholders, including external experts, during the development phase of the strategy was another important success factor. This ensured the acceptance of the strategy and facilitated the implementation, as stakeholders felt more engaged. However, during the final phase of the development process, the COVID-19 pandemic required the full attention of relevant stakeholders and the adaptation strategy moved out of focus. So far, adaptation is not a mandatory task for municipalities, and other topics can easily supersede it. COVID-19 also restricted the direct involvement of stakeholders, which nowadays makes the implementation of the strategy more complicated as some commitment is lacking.

Citizens were not involved in developing the strategy, although many adaptation measures rely on their support, especially regarding changes in behaviour and self-preparedness for climate change. Another identified weakness of the strategy is the lack of maps to localise the impacts of climate change. This hinders the effective implementation of the strategy and makes it harder to communicate the urgency to act, as stakeholders feel less affected. To address these shortcomings, the county of Euskirchen developed such maps through the research project “DAZWISCHEN”, founded by the Ministry of Education and Research, as shown below.

Summary

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