News Archive

Socially disadvantaged groups are particularly affected by climate change impacts, for example due to their occupation, housing situation, or health. Social factors can influence individual adaptive capacity and can overlap and reinforce each other. The project aimed to identify vulnerable groups and to develop recommendations for action in Germany. The report includes an eight-page summary in English.

The "Climate impacts and preparedness in Europe" web portal has been updated with newest data on how most relevant climate hazards presented here are impacting Europe and improved usability. It answers three key questions: What is Europe adapting to? How is Europe adapting? What enables or blocks progress towards resilience?

The Climate-ADAPT catalogue of 65 generic adaptation options, one of the most visited knowledge features of Climate-ADAPT and constantly being updated, reflects the state of the art of solutions for climate resilience in Europe. Adaptation options can now be faster accessed via searching for solutions addressing specific climate impacts in 19 policy sectors and using various known adaptation approaches and key type measures. Each adaptation option displays key facts in a summary, complemented by robust and detailed evidence.

Stakeholders representing research, public administration, and the Austrian regions, and Philippe Tulkens, the Deputy Mission Manager at EU level, convened at the meeting of the Mission Action Group for the EU Mission ‘Adaptation to Climate Change’ at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG. Talks concluded with the a discussion of competitiveness and climate adaptation, a mapping exercise on nature-based solutions, and the formal signing of new Mission Charter memberships: a concrete sign of Austria's growing engagement with the Mission.

At the end of March 2026, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) launched a new Climate Risk Assessment for the country. The assessment showed that currently, the Netherlands is insufficiently prepared for the future consequences of climate change. The Dutch may face severe climate effects with repercussions for their health, living environment, and virtually all economic sectors. Next to assessing future risks, the report shows also that there many ways to mitigate these risks. But to achieve this the Netherlands faces far-reaching choices. Which measures should be prioritized? And who will bear the costs? Complete protection against climate risks is not possible, so the Climate Risk Assessment also concluded that it essential to increase societal resilience.

The EU-funded NEVERMORE project has developed an ICT toolkit, which combines climate science, socio-economic data, and stakeholder knowledge to promote integrated climate change assessment. The open-access toolkit contains a catalogue explorer, case study tool, EU-global scale tool, and gamification tool to support scenario evaluation, policy prioritization, and stakeholder learning. The toolkit can also be explored through a dedicated MOOC programme available on the project website.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, the European Commission invited citizens, businesses, public authorities, and other organisations to take part in a public consultation on a future framework that will determine how Europe prepares for and responds to climate change. Results of the consultation have now been published on the Commission's website (note: scroll down to download the outcome documents).

The 2025/26 Activity Report of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change demonstrates strong and growing engagement throughout the Mission ecosystem, with more than 400 regional and local authorities now participating in Mission activities and initiatives. This momentum is further supported by a portfolio of 65 Horizon Europe projects and an active Mission Adaptation Community bringing together over 700 participants to collaborate, exchange knowledge and promote peer learning across governance levels.

In preparation of the next German Climate Risk Assessment, the German climate impact chains have been updated and streamlined. These impact chains form a crucial methodological basis for the risk assessment and identify potential climate impacts, influencing factors and interrelations between climate impacts. The report includes a summary of the explanations in English.

The Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) in cooperation with the French G7 Presidency has prepared a report analysing the macroeconomic and financial impacts of extreme weather events, their transmission channels and international spillovers. The report includes both a full text and a high-level visual summary.

Shifting climate conditions are increasingly affecting global agricultural production. Prolonged droughts, changes in soil moisture or more frequent and intense floods are putting pressure on crops, irrigation systems and land management practices. To measure if adaptation is underway, the OECD developed 17 indicators to assess countries’ adaptation progress in agricultural production that can both assess progress made and identify remaining adaptation needs and policy gaps.

At least 95% of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures in 2025, according to the European State of the Climate Report compiled by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report highlights that Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fasters warming continent. The article includes the full report, as well as an interactive viewer.

Urban green spaces enhance quality of life, mitigating high temperatures, heat islands, noise pollution, and poor air quality. However, a study carried out by the European Commission in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen found that less than 15% of the European urban population has full access to green spaces under the "3-30-300" greening principle. The findings also reveal that wealthier neighborhoods enjoy significantly higher levels of tree cover and proximity to nature than lower-income areas.

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) states that climate adaptation and mitigation depend on how water systems are managed. This policy brief sets out five priority shifts to move from fragmented approaches to more coherent and effective water governance. Together, these shifts provide a practical framework for aligning how water systems function with how policy, finance, and implementation are organized, to strengthen coherence, align investments, and support implementation at scale.

Wildfires have burned swathes of forest across Europe in recent years, but carefully deploying grazing livestock to high-risk areas can reduce their vulnerability to fire, as two LIFE projects have found. The approach known as agroforestry, allows cattle, sheep or goats to wander between the trees, where they eat and trample vegetation that could provide fuel for a wildfire.

Almost 8 thousand fires occuring in 25 of the 27 EU Member States resulted in 1 079 538 burnt hectares. This marks the highest burnt area in the EU27 ever recorded by EFFIS since 2006, nearly double the 2006-2024 average. The 2025 season reflects a clear trend: an earlier start, more frequent and intense heat waves, and fires reaching higher latitudes than historically observed.

The NbS Library, developed by the EU-funded project LandShift and Metabolic Institute, is an interactive platform built on the systematic identification and curation of implemented NbS cases across Europe. Each case is categorised by ecosystem type, land-use challenge, and solution approach, enabling users to explore and compare options tailored to their specific needs.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in advancing evidence-based research on natural catastrophe risks. Key areas of cooperation will include enhancing risk assessment methodologies and improving the collection and analysis of disaster loss data.

Peatland provides a buffer against heavy rainfall, stores water for periods of drought and they are natural air conditioners. A new support programme in Germany aims at rewetting 90,000 hectares of land in the next few years. The funding is aimed at land owners, land managers, water and soil associations.

A total of 11 million euros, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI), is available for capacity and competence building to strengthen Austrian cities as drivers of urban climate resilience. The call is open until September 2026.

A major international study analysed daily temperature and mortality data in Europe and found that the implementation of heat prevention plans is associated with a reduction of about 25% in excess deaths attributable to extreme heat. They prove that early warning systems, clear communication, and protection measures for at-risk people are not only good practice but measurably effective public health tools in a warming world.

A new paper led by Deltares and Utrecht University reveals that Europe has far more opportunities to accelerate climate adaptation than usually is recognised. Rather than responding only when climate risks become urgent, the study showcases how political momentum, public support, availability of resources, technological innovation and/or routine maintenance cycles may accelerate adaptation action.

The EU-funded project KNOWING released its Expandable Impact Interaction Model Framework, which covers transport, energy demand and supply, microclimate, health, land use, and flooding. The integrated approach makes it possible to capture cross-sectoral feedback loops, time delays, and the unintended side-effects of climate interventions.

As wildfires are getting larger, more frequent, and more destructive, the European Commission is presenting a new integrated approach to wildfire risk management, which covers prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. This holistic approach will enhance Europe's resilience against the growing threat of wildfires and ensure stronger protection for Europeans and the environment, as well as its infrastructure and cultural heritage.