North West Europe

Key messages

Climate change adaptation in the North West Europe is supported in several policies, strategies and funding programmes at the transnational level of governance. It is mainly addressed by Priority 1 of the EU Interreg North West (NEW) Europe Programme (2021-2027). This priority determines the EU co-funding of shared solutions for cross-border climate change challenges that require cooperation among organisations from different countries.
Under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention), climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are addressed as cross-cutting issues by the North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy (NEAES, 2021) within strategic objectives 5, 10, 11 and 12.
Several countries of the transnational region have own strategies that are relevant for climate change adaptation: the North Sea Region 2030 Strategy, the Wadden Sea Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy (NEAES) 2030. They are described on the North Sea Transnational Region page.

Geographic scope

The cooperation area of North West Europe for the 2021-2027 Interreg programming period includes seven countries: the whole territory of Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and parts of France and Germany. Major changes with respect to the previous programming period (2014-2020) are the exclusion of the United Kingdom*, and the extension of the transnational region, covering the whole territory of the Netherlands and wider regions of Germany. A map comparing the old and new borders can be seen here.

* From the entry into force of the UK Withdrawal Agreement on 1 February 2020, content from the United Kingdom will no longer be updated on this website.

Region's countries:

Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland

Why climate change adaptation matters in the North West Europe region

The 2024 European Climate Risk Assessment has shown that the North West Europe region, because of its geographical extension will be subject to different impacts:

the part in Northern Europe is affected by multiple risks due to increasing flooding as well as wildfires;
the part in Western Europe is at risk of heatwaves that become more intense and frequent affecting densely populated urban areas, and droughts affecting agricultural regions.

Policies and measures coordinated across borders need to be taken to effectively make this transnational region climate resilient.

Policy framework

1. Transnational cooperation programme

The Interreg North West (NEW) Europe Programme (2021-2027), approved by the European Commission on 24 August 2022 promotes a green, smart and just transition for all NWE territories with the aim to support a balanced development and make all regions more resilient, increasing their ability to respond better to any existing and future challenge. Interreg NEW programme assists at supporting the regions’ energy and circular transition by implementing and taking up of transnational and place-based solutions to contribute to the preservation of natural resources, the enhancement of nature-based solutions to climate change.

The thematic scope of the programme covers aspects of the green, smart and just transition and is organised around three priorities:

Priority 1-Smart climate and environmental resilience
Priority 2 – Smart and just energy transition
Priority 3- Transition towards a place-based circular economy
Priority 4 – Improving territorial resilience through innovative and smart transformation

Climate change adaptation projects are especially funded within the priority 1, with the specific objective of “Enhancing protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity and green infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution”. The programme supports efforts to develop green/blue infrastructure. Those actions aim at ensuring the protection or restoration of a wide range of ecosystems and prevents the loss of biodiversity and natural capital. As most NWE regions are failing to meet air quality targets, the Programme also aims to reduce heat stress and improve air quality.

The issue of energy efficiency, that is relevant for both mitigation and adaptation issues, is covered under the priority 2, and in particular the Specific Objective 2.2 (Promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions). It will be achieved by identifying opportunities that increase the energy performance of e.g. dwellings and public buildings, transport/mobility, Inland Waterway Transport, as well as of district heating and cooling network lines.

The previous Interreg North West Europe (NWE) Programme (2014-2020) aimed to promote the economic, environmental, social and territorial future of the NWE region. , Due to the high urban density and the exposure of urban areas to the risk of coastal and fluvial flooding, the NWE Programme identified addressing climate change vulnerability as one of the major challenges in the programme area. However, this challenge was not translated into a thematic priority for the programme. Itwas included among the investment priorities related to the transition to a low carbon society (priority 2, and mainly the investment priority 4e), stating that ‘mitigation/adaption actions are required’.

2. Macro-region strategies

3. International conventions and other cooperation initiatives

Together with other regions, parts of North West Europe are covered by the OSPAR ‘Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic’. In particular the north-western and north-eastern parts of the regions’ coasts are covered by two subregions of the OSPAR convention: the Celtic Seas subregion and the Greater North Sea subregion. Under this convention, climate change (and ocean acidification) is addressed as a cross-cutting issue in terms of knowledge generation, monitoring of impacts and design of management options aiming at increasing ecosystem resilience. In 2019, OSPAR established an Intersessional Correspondence Group on ocean acidification (ICG-OA).

Other cooperation initiatives that involve some parts of the North-West region are the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and the North Sea Commission within the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions. More details on these initiatives are presented on the North Sea Transnational Region page.

4. Adaptation strategies and plans

Although no adaptation strategies and plans exist specifically for the North West Region, the cooperation initiatives that involve several countries of the transnational region (OSPAR, Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation and North Sea Commission) have own strategies that are relevant for climate change adaptation (the North Sea Region 2030 Strategy, the Wadden Sea Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy (NEAES) 2030). They are fully described on the North Sea Transnational Region page.