Building a Climate-Resilient Future: New guidelines to help EU countries update their climate adaptation strategies

The European Commission today adopted a new set of guidelines to assist Member States in updating and implementing comprehensive national adaptation strategies, plans and policies, in line with the European Climate Law and the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change.

From extreme heatwaves and devastating droughts, to deadly forest fires and rising sea levels eroding coastlines, the inevitable impacts of unchecked climate change are well known and starting to manifest themselves. The latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underlined the urgency to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Today’s guidelines aim to help Member States upgrade their preparations for this emerging reality of rapidly intensifying impacts.

European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, said: “The weather events many Europeans are experiencing these days will become more extreme and more frequent if climate change continues unchecked. They are a painful reminder of the need to step up both mitigation and adaptation action. Building on the EU’s Adaptation Strategy, the guidelines we have issued today will help all EU countries, regions and local administrations to plan effective adaptation measures to protect our citizens, businesses, cities and nature from the impact of climate change.”

The Commission seeks to support Member States to adopt a whole-government approach to climate adaptation policy-making by way of multilevel coordination and mainstreaming, both horizontally at all levels of sub-national authorities. The guidelines also include a comprehensive list of key features of adaptation policy. To improve Member States’ adaptation strategies and plans, the guidelines also put forward new topics and policy areas that need to be considered in policy-making to ensure better outcomes.

More information is available online.