Climate Action The EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change Presented by George Paunescu (Climate Action DG, Adaptation Unit) At the Workshop "Adapting transport infrastructure to climate change" 18 January 2016, AENOR, Madrid

Climate Action Main Points 1 – Rationale 2 – The EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change 3 – Linkage with standardisation Main points

Climate Action IPCC AR5 – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – Fifth Assessment Report Synthesis Report Observed changes and their causes: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal Human influence on the climate system is clear Widespread impacts on human and natural systems Changes in many extreme weather and climate events Future climate changes, risks and impacts: Continued GHG emissions will cause further warming Rising surface temperature for all emission scenarios More frequent and longer lasting heat waves ; Droughts More frequent and intense precipitation events typically Ocean warming, acidification, global mean sea level rise Pathways for adaptation, mitigation, sustainable dev.: Quick emission reductions will reduce risks, costs and challenges, help climate-resilient sustainable development Adaptation and mitigation: No single option, but integrated responses, enabling factors

Climate Action Slow on-set climate change Extreme weather events Climate change Changes in extreme climatic events mean temp. extreme daily temp. ENSEMBLES regional climate model vs Source: Joint Research Centre, EC

Climate Action Vulnerable Europe - The EU is already facing unavoidable impacts of climate change - Impacts will affect the full EU territory, with regional differences - Average and extreme temperatures increases; changes in precipitation and flood patterns; more intense windstorms; droughts; sea level rise; coastal erosion; landslides etc.

Climate Action Impacts © IStock

Climate Action Impacts on infrastructure Source: (Draft) JRC Technical Report "Resilience of large investments and critical infrastructures in Europe to climate change"

Climate Action  The climate is changing, despite mitigation efforts  The EU is already facing unavoidable impacts  Adaptation is cheaper than inaction Effective adaptation actions can reduce overall damage costs, save lives, and natural and human assets  The need and added value of EU Action An EU-wide framework will support adaptation measures that have to be designed and applied locally  Economies of scale in capacity-building, research, data- gathering and knowledge transfer  EU Funding Rationale for a strategy

Climate Action Action 6.Climate proofing the Common Agricultural Policy, Cohesion Policy, and the Common Fisheries Policy Action 7.Making infrastructure more resilient Action 8.Promote products & services by insurance and finance markets Priority 3: Adaptation in key vulnerable sectors Action 4.Knowledge-gap strategy Action 5.Climate-ADAPT Priority 2: Better informed decision-making Action 1.Encourage MS to adopt Adaptation Strategies and action plans Action 2.LIFE funding, including adaptation priority areas Action 3.Promoting adaptation action by cities along the Covenant of Mayors initiative Priority 1: Promoting action by Member States EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change

Climate Action Action 1. Encourage MS to adopt Adaptation Strategies and action plans 20 NAS adopted to date, several more NAS/action plans under preparation. Action 2. LIFE funding, including adaptation priority areas Cross-border floods management, coastal management, urban environment, mountain and island areas, drought-prone areas (water, desertification, fire risks) Annual calls for proposals Financial instrument - Natural Capital Financing Facility (with EIB) Action 3. Promoting adaptation action by cities along the Covenant of Mayors initiative: Mayors Adapt Launched in March 2014 October 2015 – New Integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Priority 1: Promoting action by Member States

Climate Action Action 4. Knowledge-gap strategy Identify and prioritise knowledge gaps Feed this into programming Horizon 2020 Coordination with other knowledge generation processes (e.g. RTD, JRC, ENV, EEA, LIFE, etc.) Action 5. Climate-ADAPT: Develop interfaces with other databases and climate services (incl. Copernicus) Several improvements made to the Climate-ADAPT platform, new presentation Improve usability and accessibility of information and data Improve interaction with national platforms, national and regional information Priority 2: Better informed decision-making

Climate Action

Action 6. Climate proofing the CAP, Cohesion Policy, and the Common Fisheries Policy Mainstreaming adaptation in European policies Comprehensive effort to mainstreaming climate action into the programming of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Guidance & Capacity building Action 7. Making infrastructure more resilient Standardisation Mandate for CEN and CENELEC Guidelines for project developers Climate Proofing of Major Projects funded by ESIF, specific requirements for TEN- E and TEN-T Action 8. Promote products & services by insurance and finance markets Green paper insurance of disasters Stakeholder dialogue: workshops with national insurance federations organised Priority 3: Adaptation in key vulnerable sectors

Climate Action Directorate-General for Climate Action ("DG CLIMA") EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change: Guidelines for project managers _guidelines_project_managers_en.pdf European Climate Adaptation Platform: Thank you for your attention