News Archive

In October 2024, local governments, policymakers, experts, and stakeholders gathered in Barcelona for the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub International Annual Conference (EPAH) to showcase sustainable solutions to energy poverty. Two key projects, LIFE ReHABITA and CoolToRise, are helping vulnerable households reduce energy bills and improve comfort. LIFE ReHABITA supports energy-efficient home renovations across five European countries, benefiting over 500 families. Meanwhile, CoolToRise addresses summer heat by promoting energy-saving measures and creating cool spaces in communities. Together, these projects emphasize the need for affordable, sustainable adaptation options to combat energy poverty and build resilience in the face of climate change.

The 9th Ministerial Conference of FOREST EUROPE, held on October 1st and 2nd near Bonn, resulted in the key decision to establish FoRISK, a new collaborative platform based at the European Forest Institute. This platform is designed to enhance forest resilience across Europe. Ministers stressed the need for strong collaboration to ensure the long-term resilience and adaptability of Europe’s forests.

The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) published a new report titled "Municipal Climate Change Adaptation: Assessment, Influencing Factors, and Leverage Points." The report combines the latest climate research with practical literature on municipal climate adaptation, transformative change, and change management. It is important to note that research on strengthening the climate resilience of small and medium-sized municipalities, especially through transformation-based strategies, is still in its early stages. Please note that only the abstract is in English, the full report is published in German.

The Knowledge Hub on Sea Level Rise (SLR), a joint effort of JPI Climate and JPI Oceans, has spent the past two years conducting a thorough analysis of SLR and its implications for European coastal regions. It provides European policymakers, researchers, and the public with a clear overview of the challenges and impacts of sea level rise across Europe. The Hub also includes a detailed catalog of adaptation measures for coastal planning, offering valuable insights to support informed decision-making and action.

The EU-funded ScienceUs project invites legal entities from EU Member States or Horizon Europe-associated countries to apply for funding to support initiatives related to the EU mission on "Adaptation to Climate Change." Successful applicants will receive financial support, networking opportunities, and expert guidance. The application deadline is 6 January 2025.

The European Investment Bank's (EIB) annual Climate Survey found that nearly two-thirds of respondents in Belgium recognize the need to adapt their lifestyles due to climate change. Many believe that investing in adaptation now will help avoid higher costs in the future.

The Slovak Environment Agency, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, launched a platform dedicated to climate change adaptation. The aim is to use this platform as a communication and information channel. It contains sections for experts as well as for curious citizens who can find here e.g. infographics or the latest adaptation news. Summary information is available in English

The European Commission is proposing amendments to three EU regulations to ensure that EU funds can be quickly mobilised in support of post-disaster recovery. These proposals come as a direct response to the floods affecting Central and Eastern European countries and wildfires in Portugal in September 2024.

Every year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) brings together many of the world’s top climate scientists to look at future trends in greenhouse gas emissions and provide potential solutions to the challenge of global warming. This year, the 15th edition of the Emissions Gap Report finds that nations must deliver dramatically stronger ambition and action in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions.

In 2023, storms battered the Hauts-de-France Region in France and the Aa river delta was flooded. This experience revealed how vulnerable the low-lying region is to climate change. The institutions in charge turned to EU-funded Interreg Europe to explore adaptation options to build resilience against both floods and droughts. This work led to a peer review study from Belgium, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. As part of this work, water management governance, the possibility of using nature-based solutions, such as meadow areas and flood plains, were discussed and shared with stakeholders from across the region.

The Technology Executive Committee (TEC), the policy arm of the United Nations Climate Change Technology Mechanism, is committed to boost cooperation on climate technology deployment to adapt to climate change, especially in regions hit hardest by the climate crisis. Countries should integrate technology considerations into their national climate plans, for instance by realizing early warning systems in support of risk-informed climate resilience policy and action. The TEC met recently in Bonn, Germany to highlight recent successes to scale up climate action through technological innovation.

This years European Climate Risk Assessment of the European Environment Agency concludes that Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world including downpours severe droughts. Monitoring the impacts of meteorological droughts supports policy measures that target greenhouse gas removals and the adaptation of ecosystems to climate change. Drought impacts may increase further if global mitigation and EU and national adaptation strategies are not effectively implemented. Fortunately, drought is used as a headline indicator in the reporting on the 8th Environmental Action Programme.

The EU funded Climateurope2 project is working to improve quality standards of climate services to ensure they are trustworthy and effective and invites stakeholders to take part in an important survey that will help to guide this effort. By sharing insights, participating stakeholders can contribute to the creation of standardization procedures that support both adaptation and mitigation efforts.

EU-funded research by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) resulted in an in-depth analysis of regional variations in socio economic vulnerability across the EU, highlighting how demographic, health, and socioeconomic factors shape the capacity of populations to withstand climate extremes. In regions with significant aging populations, the combination of physical frailty and socioeconomic challenges exacerbates vulnerability, expected to make adaption efforts more difficult.

Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and further increasing pressures on our water resources and ecosystems. According to an assessment of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Europe's water management practices are poorly adapted to cope with such rapid and large-scale change, which will compromise water security. Better water management is key to improve water resilience, to alleviate pressures on water and to ensure European citizens, nature and industry have enough good-quality water.

The European Court of Auditors assessed the EU’s climate adaptation framework and how a selection of EU adaptation projects addressed the impacts of climate change. They found that the overall EU framework for adaptation policy was sound but there were weaknesses and gaps in its implementation.

How do we anchor environment and climate priorities with other emerging ones like security, competitiveness and fairness without losing sight of the long-term sustainability objective of ‘living well within the limits of our planet’? Europe’s Sustainability Transitions Outlook report, published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), calls for the need to further align European economic, social and security policies with the climate and environmental objectives.

In September, the European Commission hosted a high-level roundtable on how to manage climate risks and damages including to consider vulnerable groups of society. Participants called for bold action on climate resilience and discussed structural changes, actionable tools and financing for the future. The roundtable provided an opportunity for exchange ahead of the preparation of the European Climate Adaptation Plan.

The winners of the German Federal "Blue Compass" Award 2024 have been announced The prizes, each worth 25,000 euros, were awarded to five outstanding climate adaptation projects in the areas of heavy rainfall prevention, disaster prevention, heat resilience and flood protection. A community prize was also awarded via online voting

The ' Municipal Survey on Climate Adaptation 2023' report presents the findings of the representative national survey, done on behalf of the German Environment Agency. It provides a comprehensive and differentiated picture of the status and progress of municipal climate adaptation in Germany and thus serves as an important framework for political decision-makers at federal, state and local level. Related to the 2024 Federal Climate Adaptation Act (KAnG), the survey results show that municipalities have already started to adapt to climate change impacts, but also numerous challenges that still need to be overcome.

The Federal Government is currently developing the 2008 German Adaptation Strategy into a new, precautionary adaptation strategy to climate change. In autumn 2023, the “Dialogue on Climate Adaptation - Mastering Life in a Changing Climate Together” involved experts from federal states, scientific community and associations as well as citizens. The report summarizes the results of the nationwide participation process with several formats and bundles the stakeholder and citizens recommendations for the seven clusters of the adaptation strategy. The report is written in German, but contains an English summary.

NATURANCE is a 3.5-year Horizon Europe project which examines the technical, financial and operational feasibility and performance of solutions built on a combination of disaster risk financing and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) investments. As part of this project, Naturethons, citizen group meetings, have tapped into the collective understanding of NbS deployment and stimulated discussions around their financial mechanisms and instruments.

The relaunched portal with improved user friendliness features knowledge, practical advice, interactive tools, and a catalogue of projects that can serve as inspiration related to climate adaptation in Denmark. It offers tailored entry points for three user groups. Next to the Danish version, an English portal offers guidelines for international visitors and English-speaking residents. The portal is administered by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with several ministeries, agencies and organisations.

Two regional programmes, embedded in the European Commission's Rural Pact, support rural municipalities in Austria in achieving EU climate targets by implementing local projects through a network of experts and citizens. For example, the Climate Change Adaptation Model Regions (KLAR!) programme helps Austrian municipalities and regions in provincial capital and in rural areas across the country. The programmes have gained momentum, as demonstrated by a high number of projects and participation of key stakeholders. KLAR! involves 87 Climate Change Adaptation Model Regions covering 741 municipalities and 2.13 million inhabitants.

Floods take lives, destroy infrastructure, damage biodiversity and lead to high economic losses. A warming above 3°C could double the costs of damage and people affected by precipitation and river flooding. European Commission's Joint Research Centre scientists have developed a tool to estimate flood water depth and improve the accuracy of flood extent maps, which can help to decide which means to allocate (e.g. helicopter or boat) and the equipment and quantity to use (e.g. hoses and water pumps).