Expert meeting on “Environment, Climate Change and Security in the Artic” 28 February 2013 EEA activities on climate change impacts and adaptation in Europe Hans-Martin Füssel ) (Project manager climate change impacts and adaptation )

2 The EEA is the EU body dedicated to providing sound, independent information on the environment. We are a main information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public. The EEA mission EEA clients: European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the European Union, EEA member countries Policy influencers: NGOs, business, media, advisory groups, scientists, debaters General public

EEA member and cooperating countries

Climate change adaptation (White Paper 2009 and planned EU 2013 strategy) Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: ‘strengthen our economies' resilience to climate risks’ and EU low-carbon strategy 2050 Draft Multi-annual Financial Framework, proposal for share of climate-related expenditure (mitigation and adaptation) to 20% Environmental policies: Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive Nature protection directives, policies to halt biodiversity loss Marine Strategy Framework Directive; Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Sectoral, cross-cutting: maritime, agriculture; forestry; human health; disaster risk reduction; infrastructure e.g. energy, transport; urban areas EU funded research (Horizon2020), future GMES climate service EU policy processes related to adaptation

Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2012 (indicator-based report) Objectives: present past and projected climate change and impacts through indicators identify sectors and regions most at risk highlight the need for adaptation actions identify main sources of uncertainty; demonstrate how monitoring and scenario development can improve the knowledge base Report on adaptation actions (EU, national, sectoral) is due April 2013 See: climate-change-evident-across-europe climate-change-evident-across-europe

Production of the report Coordination by EEA Authors and contributors (total 90) from: EEA and European Topic Centres (climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation; biodiversity; inland, coastal and marine waters), see: World Health Organisation Europe European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Joint Research Centre (European Commission) Guidance by Advisory Group (European Commission, EEA scientific committee, WHO, ECMWF, IPCC, SWIPA, other organisations and researchers) External review (Advisory Group, selected experts, and countries) Data sources: European and other research projects, international databases, academic publications

Structure of the report Executive Summary Technical Summary 1.Introduction Purpose and outline Scope and link to other EU and EEA activities and products Background and policy framework Climate change, impact, vulnerability and adaptation indicators Emissions and socio-economic scenarios for projections Uncertainty in observations and projections Definition of vulnerability and risk 2. Changes in the climate system Human influence on the climate system Key climate variables Cryosphere 3. Climate impacts on environmental systems Oceans and marine environment Coastal zones Freshwater quantity and quality Terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity Soil 4. Climate impacts on socio-economic systems and health Agriculture Forests and forestry Fisheries and aquaculture Human health Energy Transport Tourism 5. Vulnerability to climate change Introduction River flooding, water scarcity and droughts Integrated assessment of vulnerability to climate change Vulnerability of cities and urban areas Damage costs 6. Indicator and data needs Policy needs for indicators Observations Climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation research

8 More than 40 indicators Climate variables Cryosphere Marine environment Coastal zones Inland waters Terrestrial ecosystems Soil Agriculture Forestry and forests Fisheries* Human health Energy Transport* Tourism* Vulnerability indices* * No EEA indicators Cryosphere Snow cover Greenland ice sheet Glaciers Permafrost Arctic and Baltic Sea ice

Europe’s key climate change impacts and risks

Example: glaciers Most European glaciers are in retreat; glaciers in the Alps lost two thirds of their volume since The retreat is projected to continue.

Example: Arctic Sea ice The extent and volume of the Arctic Sea ice has declined rapidly since global data became available in 1980, especially in summer. Record low sea ice cover in September 2007, 2011 and 2012 was roughly half the size of the normal minimum extent in the 1980s.

Climate-ADAPT: European Climate Adaptation Platform Supports governmental decision-makers developing climate change adaptation strategies, policies and actions Guided by advise from countries (agencies and ministries), Adaptation Steering Group (chaired by DG CLIMA), other organisations (e.g. WHO Europe), experts from EU FP projects Launched 23 March 2012 (DG CLIMA, EEA) EEA to maintain with JRC and supported by ETC-CCA

This section provides an introduction to adaptation from a European perspective: How is the EU climate changing: - Observations of current climate trends - Future projections under different scenarios What risks we will face as a consequence How we can adapt to reduce our vulnerabilities What adaptation measures are available in different sectors, eg water Adaptation has to be taken into consideration when defining and implementing other policies, eg agricultural policy, water management etc. This is what we call « mainstreaming » This section describes how the EU is mainstreaming climate change adaptation in key sectors of EU policies that will be affected by climate change This section presents information on different levels: 1.Countries: information on National Adaptation Strategies and policies 2.Transnational regions: adaptation activities to face transboundary issues in a coordinated way. Examples: Alpine Space, Baltic region etc 3.Urban areas: cities are particularly vulnerable to adaptation. This section will present results and tools from DG CLIMA’s « Cities and Adaptation » Project Tools: Online support tools developed for CLIMATE-ADAPT Links: Relevant organisations and online platforms Database: possibility to search the entire database of Climate-ADAPT, including research projects, adaptation options, case studies, indicators, guidance documents, etc

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