Latest news and events on Climate-ADAPT

This first and the following State and Trends in Adaptation Reports will assess progress on climate adaptation and provide guidance and recommendations on best practice in adapting to the effects of a changing climate and building resilience to climate shocks.

ADA (ADaptation in Agriculture) is an Italian LIFE Project funded by the EU Commission, aiming at increasing the resilience of the agricultural sector by providing producers and farmers with knowledge and tools to adapt to climate change. Main targets area's are dairy products (Parmigiano Reggiano), wine, fruit and vegetables in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Tuscany and Lazio regions.

Impacts of climate change are estimated to be more visible on natural resources and in particular on forests in the coming years. This Strategic Plan is the first document of the Turkey General Directorate of Forestry on climate adaptation, and aims at enhancing climate adaptation actions to assist the forestry sector to become more resilient, by suggesting 9 strategies and 51 respective actions.

This scientific opinion, published in June 2020, examines which adaptation measures could strengthen the European health sector with respect to impacts from climate change. It focuses on vulnerable groups, regions and the urban environment, and the impact of vector-borne diseases, heat and heat waves.

In Europe, floods are on the rise due to climate change. These extreme weather events often result in human tragedy, loss of life and economic losses. The environment also suffers with wildlife habitats being destroyed and water bodies being polluted. Several LIFE projects are working hard to alleviate the situation.

This United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and International Science Council (ISC) technical report supports the Sendai Framework for DRR, the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by providing a common set of hazard definitions.

The second indicator-based monitoring report of the German Federal Government on the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change informs the public and decision-makers in all areas of social life about the observed consequences of climate change and about the progress on adaptation in all relevant sectors.

Citizens get the opportunity to react to ideas that came out from the citizen engagement deliberative events on the respective Missions that have taken (and still are taking) place over the summer. Therefore, a call runs from 1st September to 14th September 2020. Ideas can be written in English, German and French. The results of the project will be announced on 22 September during the European Research and Innovation Days 2020.

The film "Adapt to a future climate – examples from municipalities” offers an introduction to how society can be adapted to a changing climate and why it is important. Representatives from several Swedish municipalities present how they have dealt with some of their challenges. The film has been produced by Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation.

As Europe warms up, it will become a more suitable home for one of the world’s most potent virus spreaders – the Asian tiger mosquito. This creature thrives at summer temperatures of 20–25°C, and survives the winter if January temperatures stay above 3°C. So as the world heats up, we will see them travelling north and south to find more comfortable conditions.

According to this report of the National Climate Commission, climate change in Belgium will mainly be felt through heat waves, floods and droughts. Warmer and more humid summers, and milder and humid winters are becoming normal. These impacts will affect a large number of sectors, resulting in major costs but also benefits, with costs dominating strongly. Well-considered and fair adaptation measures are required.

The Alpine Climate Board is organizing this webinar in order to provide information on financial options for climate activities in the Alps; to give an overview of existing funding options and innovative funding formats for both climate adaptation and mitigation actions, and providing a platform for regular exchanges.

The German research project 'Impact CHAIN' examined the potential impacts of global climate change on the German economy through foreign trade flows. Adaptation strategies and measures were developed that would be suitable to be deployed against the most significant global effects.

The ADAPT project is a three-year initiative, started in 2019, to increase ecosystem and community resilience to climate change and disaster risks by applying Nature-based solutions in the Western Balkan countries. It provides opportunities to analyze national ecosystem management and biodiversity policy from a climate change perspective, and adaptation indicators.

Those who work with climate adaptation in a municipality often work alone. This makes it important to identify forms of collaboration. Municipalities that work together in order to form a climate adaptation network can learn from each other and support each other in their work. One such network has already been established in the Gothenburg region in Sweden.

With rising temperatures, the number of days with snow is gradually decreasing in parts of Sweden. Ski resorts have therefore begun to store snow in order to ensure that they will be able to open at the beginning of the skiing season.

The German Federal Government has adopted the current progress report on the German Adaptation Strategy. In addition to taking stock of past activities, the Government has set priorities for future work. These include better fundamentals for financing climate adaptation. The Federal Environment Ministry will also fund social facilities with up to 150 million euros to address their specific challenges in climate adaptation.

A resilient climate change forest, urban green as a cool oasis in the middle of a hot city, climate-friendly building materials made from natural resources, and a coaching programme to assist municipalities in adapting to climate change; these initiatives are the winners of the 2020 year’s Blauer Kompass award held in Germany.

Webinar about the European Extreme Events Climate Index (E3CI), which is the first project of the International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development (IFAB); a collaboration between the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) and Leithà in Italy.

The recently updated Adaptation Support Tool (AST) provides a sound overview and guidance in assisting policy makers and coordinators in the EU Member States, EEA member countries and others on how to develop, further improve and increase the coherence of National Adaptation Strategies (NASs) and National Action Plans (NAPs). A webinar will be held on 18 November 2020 to learn more about the practical experience and use for policy, planning and decision making.

The European Commission has approved an investment package of more than €280 million from the EU budget for over 120 new LIFE programme projects. This EU funding will trigger total investments of nearly €590 million to help meet these projects' ambitious goals for environment, nature, and climate action. This amount represents a 37% rise compared to last year.

This policy paper is the outcome of the conference “Climate change and the European water dimension – Enhancing resilience” and provides recommendations for the European Commission and EU Member States on how to increase water-related climate resilience and initiate the transformational change required to ensure resilience in the future.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has launched its first pilot dashboard, which depicts the insurance protection gap for natural catastrophes. The aim is to represent the drivers of a climate-related insurance protection gap in order to identify measures that will help in decreasing society’s losses in the event of natural catastrophes. EIOPA is also inviting stakeholders to provide their views by 31 March 2021 by filling in a survey.

Latvia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) has started the implementation of the project 'Integration of climate change policy in sectoral and regional policies' in the framework of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programme 2014-2021. The project aims to improve the integration of climate issues into sectoral and regional policies and activities, and to develop new climate change policy planning tools.

The Environmental Protection Agency assessed the overall quality of Ireland's environment, the pressures being placed on it and the societal responses to current and emerging environmental issues. Climate, including climate adaptation, is one of the policy areas assessed.

The European Climate Pact invites everyone to take action to fight climate change and work together for a climate-friendly society. The event will be fully virtual and in English, but can also be viewed in several EU languages.

Over the past decade, the climate change research community developed a scenario framework that combines alternative futures of climate and society to facilitate integrated research and consistent assessment to inform policy. An international team of researchers assessed how well this framework is working and what challenges it faces.

Groundwater reservoirs in Bavaria have warmed considerably over the past few decades. A new study compares temperatures at 35 measuring stations with data from the 1990s. Water found at a depth of 20 metres was almost one degree warmer on average than 30 years ago.

This conference organized by EUROPARC, a network for Europe’s natural and cultural heritage, is the key event for those working in Europe’s Protected Areas. Entitled with "Nature on your mind – understanding our values”, the conference will explore the presence of nature across various sectors, including climate action topics.

To do the right thing at the right time, organisms need to glean cues from their environment. With ongoing climate change, the timing of these cues, like the accumulation of warm days, is rapidly shifting. Researchers have shown that the timing of species’ activity fail to keep up with their cues, and that how quickly activity shifts reflects past evolution.