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News Archive

  • UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2023

    06 Nov 2023

    The Adaptation Gap Report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) looks at progress in planning, financing and implementing adaptation actions. The main finding for 2023 is that progress on climate adaptation is slowing when it should be accelerating to catch up with rising climate change impacts.

  • ASPECT survey to improve the usability of climate information for European organisations

    30 Oct 2023

    The EU funded Horizon Europe ASPECT project aims to improve the provision of climate information for risk management and climate change adaptation. Professionals from all sectors and organisations of any size that are sensitive to climate or weather and who have either used or could potentially use weather/climate information are asked to fill in a 15 minute survey. The feedback will guide important advancements in European climate prediction research and services, enhancing the region's resilience to climate change.

  • Germany steps up its effort in adapting to climate risks and impacts

    30 Oct 2023

    The OECD released in May 2023 the 4th Environmental Performance Review of Germany. It assesses the country's Adaptation Policy Framework; efforts to implement Nature-based Solutions, and provides also recommendations to further strengthen resilience to climate change. The report shows that, in the past two decades, Germany experienced a considerable number of extreme weather events, including floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves, which all had significant impacts on livelihoods, the environment and the economy. Germany has therefore scaled up its engagement on climate change adaptation across all government levels and initiated an ambitious programme to foster investments in nature-based solutions.

  • Innovative storylines approach to cross-border climate change affecting Europe

    30 Oct 2023

    The EU funded Horizon 2020 project RECEIPT studied the cascading impacts of climate change outside Europe on key socio-economic sectors of the European Union. The project has developed storylines unveiling cause-and-effect relationships over time and summarised actionable recommendations for decision-makers in 5 policy briefs on how the European Union can protect itself from remote climate change impacts.

  • Climate Risk Sourcebook published

    30 Oct 2023

    Funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), a new version of the Climate Risk Sourcebook (CR-SB), developed by Eurac’s Research Center for Climate Change and Transformation together with GIZ, UNU-EHS, GeoSphere Austria and IIASA, was launched during the Adaptation Futures 2023 Conference. The book delivers a conceptual framework for a comprehensive Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) together with modular instructions, divided in eight modules, on how it can be conducted. The guidelines were updated to be consistent with the most recent IPCC report (AR6), introducing external risk drivers, impact/risk cascades and systemic risks, and a new chapter on how CRAs inform Climate Risk Management (CRM).

  • Climate Risk Planning & Managing Tool for development programmes in agri-food systems launched

    30 Oct 2023

    The Climate Risk Planning & Managing Tool (CRISP) was launched during the Adaptation Futures Conference 2023. Eurac’s Research Center for Climate Change and Transformation, together with the Alliance for Biodiversity and CIAT, the Free University of Bolzano/Bozen and GIZ (German Development Cooperation), developed this interactive web-based tool to support and build capacities of agri-food development programs to integrate climate risks into their project design and implementation. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

  • Heatwaves, droughts, other extreme weather events increasingly influencing adaptation policies in Europe

    26 Oct 2023

    Climate risk assessments that take account of threats like heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires are increasingly being used to inform and improve national adaptation policies, according to the second European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment of EU member states' national adaptation actions published recently. The EEA briefing ‘Is Europe on track towards climate resilience? Status of reported national adaptation actions in 2023,’ presents the current state of play of national adaptation policies. It is underpinned by the findings of a technical paper, developed by the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation (ETC), and the information reported under the EU Governance Regulation (Article 17 and Article 19).

  • Policy brief on integrating climate services into cities’ municipal planning

    25 Oct 2023

    Climate services have proven to be an important aid for informed decision-making on climate adaptation in Europe. However, there is a general concern that climate services are not successful in reaching the last mile toward user implementation. This policy brief from the EU funded REACHOUT project shares results on co-developing knowledge and information, packaged as climate services and tools that support the process of climate resilient urban development.

  • Destination Earth - New web page informs on how a Digital Twin of the Earth will support climate change adaptation actions

    13 Oct 2023

    Destination Earth (DestinE) is a flagship initiative of the European Commission and a cornerstone to boost Europe's digital capabilities in support of actions addressing climate change impacts. The purpose is to model, monitor, and simulate natural phenomena, hazards, and related human activities. Destination Earth, implemented by ECMWF, ESA, and EUMETSAT, and governed by DG CNECT, is working on the creation of the digital twin of the Earth system with the first two thematic digital twins: Climate Change Adaptation and Weather-induced Extremes, due to launch as part of the DestinE system in the summer of 2024. Their ground-breaking interactive features will assist users in designing accurate and actionable adaptation strategies. This new website informs about the development process and timeline.

  • Taming wildfires in the context of climate change: the case of Portugal

    12 Oct 2023

    The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched a report that provides an overview of Portugal’s wildfire policies and practices. It also assesses the extent to which wildfire management in the country is evolving to adapt to growing wildfire risk under climate change. It complements the previous OECD report “Taming Wildfires in the Context of Climate Change” which provides a global assessment and outlook on wildfire risk in the context of climate change.