New EU Adaptation Strategy

On February 24, 2021, the European Commission published the new, more ambitious EU adaptation strategy with the aim of increasing climate resilience and making Europe climate neutral by 2050. To this end, the Commission aspires to an accelerated, smarter and more systematic approach with extra attention for international cooperation due to the borderless nature of climate change.  The Commission emphasizes on working out solutions and moving on to concrete actions.

To accelerate adaptation, there is a high need for upscaled data collection and information exchange within both the private and public sectors, and within and outside the EU.  In addition, extra attention is being paid to nature-based solutions to stimulate biodiversity in addition to resilience, and adaptation actions at local and regional level are being supported. The integration of adaptation into macro-fiscal policy is promoted with a main focus on insurance to close the ‘climate protection gap’ and appropriate financial support for developing countries.

Adaptation measures should be implemented in an integrated way with other European Green Deal initiatives such as the biodiversity strategy, the Farm2Fork strategy, the circular economy action plans,…

Adaptation is undeniable a crucial component of the global response to climate change that we already face, and will face in the future. This strategy therefore aims to raise the ambition for adaptation to the level of mitigation.

The new EU adaptation strategy can be consulted here for more information.