Europe is ready for climate impacts: Commission evaluates its strategy
Adapting the EU regions and economic sectors to the impacts of climate change is now more urgent than forecast in the EU’s 2013 adaptation strategy. This is one of the key findings of the Commission’s evaluation of the strategy published today. The analysis results in a report on lessons learned and reflections on improvements for future action.
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “Our collective work on adaptation has shown we not only know more but can also do more to prevent the worst climate impacts projected by 2050. The need to adapt remains and it has actually grown, as impacts of past emissions unfold through heatwaves, storms, forest fires at high latitudes or destructive floods. This evaluation provides a credible basis for the EU policy on adaptation to explore new directions, improvements and also alignment with international developments since 2013.”
The evaluation also suggests areas where more work needs to be done to prepare vulnerable regions and sectors, aiming to provide food for thought for the UN climate change conference (COP24) in December in Katowice, Poland, and adaptation reporting requirements in the context of the governance of the Energy Union.
The evaluation package contains assessments of each of the Member States' national adaptation strategies (or the process leading to those strategies, when they are not yet adopted).
The report has been sent to the European Parliament and to the Council of the EU.
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