About the EU Adaptation Strategy
Adopted in 2021, the EU Adaptation Strategy is about helping the EU to become climate-resilient.
The strategy focuses on four key objectives:
- Smarter adaptation: Using better data and tools to guide actions, such as protecting homes, businesses, and farms.
- Faster adaptation: Developing solutions to reduce climate risks, enhance protection, and secure water resources.
- More systemic adaptation: Addressing climate impacts across all sectors by integrating climate resilience into policies, supporting local actions, and promoting nature-based solutions.
- Stepping up international action: Increasing global support, financing, and cooperation for climate resilience.
The strategy builds on past evaluations, public consultation, and was first announced in the European Green Deal in 2019.
While the EU Adaptation Strategy will remain in force, a new integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management is being prepared to take the Strategy to the next level and put its principles and objectives into practice.
2021 - EU Adaptation Strategy
- COM(2021) 82 - EU Climate Adaptation Strategy
- SWD(2021) 123 - Closing the climate protection gap – Scoping policy and data gaps
- SWD(2021) 25 - Impact Assessment
- SWD(2021) 26 - Impact Assessment Executive Summary
- Press Release on the adoption of the 2021 EU Climate Adaptation Strategy
- Q&A on the 2021 EU Climate Adaptation Strategy
- Studies & papers
2018 - Evaluation Package
2018 - Adaptation Preparedness Scoreboard
- SWD(2018) 460 - Adaptation preparedness scoreboard – Country Fiches
- Horizontal assessment of the 28 country fiches.
- Individual country fiches in English, and their summaries in English and national languages
2016 - 2018 Evaluation process
- Evaluation Roadmap
- Consultation strategy
- Report, and presentations from the first targeted stakeholder workshop (April 2017)
- Report,
agenda and presentations from the public consultation meeting (January 2018) - Online public consultation
- Evaluation support study report and annexes
2013 - EU Adaptation Strategy Package
- The EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change
- 30/07/2013 - SWD (2013) 299 - Principles and recommendations for integrating climate change adaptation considerations under the 2014-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund operational programmes
- 18/06/2013 - Council conclusions on the EU Adaptation Strategy
- 16/04/2013 - COM (2013) 216 - An EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 131 - Summary of the Impact Assessment
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 132 - Impact Assessment Part 1&2
- 16/04/2013 - COM (2013) 213 - Green paper on the insurance of natural and man-made disasters
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 133 - Climate change adaptation, coastal and marine issues
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 136 - Adaptation to climate change impacts on human, animal and plant health
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 137 - Adapting infrastructure to climate change
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 138 - Climate change, environmental degradation and migration
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 135 - Technical guidance on integrating climate change adaptation in programmes and investments of Cohesion Policy
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 139 - Principles and recommendations for integrating climate change adaptation considerations under the 2014-2020 rural development programmes
- 16/04/2013 - SWD (2013) 134 - Guidelines on developing adaptation strategies
2013 - Related documents
- Citizens' summary: EU strategy on adaptation to climate change
- 16/04/2013 - Non-paper Guidelines for Project Managers: Making vulnerable investments climate resilient
- IP/13/329 - Strengthening Europe's preparedness against natural and man-made disasters
- MEMO/13/334 - Questions and Answers: EU strategy on adaptation to climate change
- MEMO/13/335 - EU strategy on adaptation to climate change - Media resource sheet
2009 - White Paper on adapting to climate change
- 01/04/2009 - COM (2009) 147 - White Paper on adapting to climate change
- 01/04/2009 - SEC (2009) 387 - Impact assessment on the White paper on adapting to climate change
- 01/04/2009 - SEC (2009) 388 - Executive summary of the impact assessment
- 01/04/2009 - Citizens' summary on the White Paper
- 01/04/2009 - Discussion paper on agriculture
- 01/04/2009 - Discussion paper on health
- 01/04/2009 - SEC/2009/0386 - Policy paper on Water, Coasts and Marine Issues
2021 – EU Adaptation Strategy
- Ex-ante impact assessment of the new European strategy on adaptation to climate change
- SWD (2021) 25 - Impact Assessment
- SWD (2021) 26 - Impact Assessment Executive Summary
- Studies to support an ex-ante impact assessment of the EU adaptation strategy:
- Final report: consultation synopsis
- Triggers
- Vulnerability and impact assessment of the EU’s outermost regions
- Quantitative and qualitative aspects of water safety under a changing climate
- Temporal and geographical coverage of available data for assessing the impacts of climate change on European forests
- Climate risk data
- The climate protection gap
- Temporal and geographical coverage of available data for assessing the impacts of climate change on European agriculture
- Study on Climate adaptation modelling
- 20/11/2020 - Conference ‘Climate change and the European Water dimension’
2013
- Methodologies for climate proofing investments and measures under cohesion and regional policy and the common agricultural policy – Identifying the climate risks related to rural areas and adaptation options
- Methodologies for climate proofing investments and measures under cohesion and regional policy and the common agricultural policy – sectoral fiches Cohesion policy and adaptation
- Background report to the preparation of the Impact assessment on the EU adaptation strategy – part I
- Background report to the preparation of the Impact assessment on the EU adaptation strategy – Part II (results of stakeholders' consultation
2011
- "Climate Proofing" of key EU policies – Final report Task 1: Assessment of the most significant threats to the EU posed by the changing climate in the short, medium and long term
- "Climate Proofing" of key EU policies – Final report Task 2: Identification of the most appropriate measures that could address each threat, for implementation in the time frame 2013 – 2020
- "Climate Proofing" of key EU policies – Final report Task 3: Recommendations on priority measures for EU policy mainstreaming on adaptation
- Application of economic instruments for adaptation to climate change