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Video "Climate Change - Adaptation is Vital"
Video "Living with Climate Change" (up to 60 seconds charging time)
Flyer: Adaptation to Climate Change - An EU approach
Brochure: Adapting to climate change
     
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Living with climate change in Europe
 On 30 November 2009, Water Directors of EU Member States issued a guidance document on adaptation to climate change in water management. The document is the first result of numerous actions included in the European Commission's White Paper: Adapting to climate change.
On 25 November 2009, the final report of the PESETA project has been published. This research project of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) integrates a set of high-resolution climate change projections and physical models into an economic modelling framework to quantify the impacts of climate change on vulnerable aspects of Europe.
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 The earth's climate is changing and the impacts are already being felt in Europe and across the world.
Global temperatures are predicted to continue rising, bringing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as storms, floods, droughts and heat waves. Such climatic events can have a major impact on households, businesses, critical infrastructure (transport, energy and water supply) and vulnerable sections of society (elderly, disabled, poor income households) as well as having a major economic impact. We must therefore prepare to cope with living in a changing climate. This process is known as adaptation.
In April 2009 the European Commission presented a policy paper known as a White Paper which presents the framework for adaptation measures and policies to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
Decisions on how best to adapt to climate change must be based on solid scientific and economic analysis. It is therefore important to increase the understanding of climate change and the impacts it will have. The White Paper outlines the need to create a Clearing House Mechanism by 2011 where information on climate change risks, impacts and best practices would be exchanged between governments, agencies, and organisations working on adaptation policies.
Since the impacts of climate change will vary by region - with coastal and mountain areas and flood plains particularly vulnerable – many of the adaptation measures will need to be carried out nationally or regionally. The role of the European Union will be to support and complement these efforts through an integrated and coordinated approach, particularly in cross-border issues and policies which are highly integrated at EU level.
Adapting to climate change will be integrated into all EU policies and will feature prominently in the Union's external policies to assist those countries most affected.
Documents and links
A number of EU Member States have adopted National Adaptation Strategies:
The building of a framework to adapt to climate change
Study undertaken for the Commission: Design of guidelines for the elaboration of Regional Climate Change Adaptations Strategies
These Guidelines are intended to stimulate and assist planning for climate change adaptation in regional and locally-based administrations, including municipalities, counties and other regional institutions. They include a review of existing strategies and guidelines, and describe the whole process of Regional adaptation strategies development and implementation, with four main steps and three cross-cutting issues, and numerous links to existing tools and databases. |
