EU strategy on adaptation to climate change

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         EU law EU case-law Official Journal National law and case-law Information Document 52021DC0082 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change COM/2021/82 final 

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 24.2.2021 COM(2021) 82 final COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EMPTY Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change {SEC(2021) 89 final} - {SWD(2021) 25 final} - {SWD(2021) 26 final} 
1.The reality of climate change impacts – the need to act NOW
 
Climate change is happening today, so we have to build a more resilient tomorrow. The world has just concluded the hottest decade on record during which the title for the hottest year was beaten eight times. People, planet and prosperity are vulnerable to climate change, so we need to prevent the un-adaptable and adapt to the un-preventable
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. And we must do it faster, and in a smarter and more systemic way. The severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health and socio-economic wellbeing are a stark warning of the dangers of insufficient preparation. The choices we make today must create a better world.
 
Halting all greenhouse gas emissions would still not prevent the climate impacts that are already occurring. These will continue for decades, even if global and European efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions prove effective. Even drastic temporary decreases of emissions, like those caused by the 2008 financial crisis or the economic disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, have little effect on the overall trajectory of global warming. Major international commitments to reach climate neutrality are increasing the likelihood of a best-case scenario, but even in that case, substantial adaptation efforts would still be required. 
 
The frequency and severity of climate and weather extremes is increasing
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. This has caused a surge in the number of, and damages from, disasters over the last two decades
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. These extremes range from unprecedented forest fires and heatwaves right above the Arctic Circle to devastating droughts in the Mediterranean region; and from hurricanes ravaging EU outermost regions to forests decimated by unprecedented bark beetle outbreaks in Central and Eastern Europe. Slow onset events, such as desertification, loss of biodiversity, land and ecosystem degradation, ocean acidification or sea level rise are equally destructive over the long term. 
 
Climate change impacts are having far-reaching effects inside and outside the Union. Water shortages in the EU have affected economic activities as diverse as agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, power plant cooling, and cargo shipping on rivers. It affects not only the economy, but also the health and well-being of Europeans, who increasingly suffer from heat waves (globally, the deadliest disaster of 2019 was the European heatwave with 2500 deaths). It also poses risks to food security, worsens existing social inequalities and threatens cultural heritage. The EU already is, and will increasingly be, affected by climate impacts outside Europe through cascading and spillover effects on trade or migration. This makes international climate resilience
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 not only a matter of solidarity, but also of open strategic autonomy and self-interest for the EU and its Member States. 
 
Economic losses from more frequent climate-related extreme events are increasing. In the EU, these losses already average over EUR 12 billion per year. Conservative, lower bound estimates show that exposing today’s EU economy to global warming of 3°C above pre-industrial levels would result in an annual loss of at least EUR 170 billion (1.36% of EU GDP
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). Slow onset sea level rise is also an increasing worry for coastal areas, which produce ~ 40% of the EU GDP and are home to ~40% of its population. Losses are distributed unevenly, harming regions that may already face challenges like low growth or high youth unemployment.
 
Europe is rising to meet the climate challenge. The EU committed to climate neutrality by 2050 and a more ambitious emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990. A climate emergency has been recognised by the European Parliament, by several Member States, and by over 300 cities. The European Council has concluded that climate change is “an existential threat”. The EU endorsed the 2020 Leaders’ Pledge for Nature
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, to tackle jointly the climate and biodiversity crises. The focus on the green transition in the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the next generation Cohesion Policy programmes provides an opportunity to frontload investments and reforms that can help increase resilience to climate shocks as well as accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy. For the private sector, the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities will provide the framework to facilitate climate-resilient investments. At individual level, over 93% of Europeans consider that climate change is a serious problem, and 70% agree that adapting to climate change is positive.
 
The importance of adaptation is increasingly recognised globally – but multiple reports highlight the lack of preparedness
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. Extreme weather events and their impacts have an almost constant presence in the media, and their increased intensity and frequency due to climate change features at the top of the global public agenda. The Global Commission on Adaptation highlighted adaptation solutions as often being “no regret”, i.e. worth pursuing regardless of the ultimate climate path. This is due to their multiple co-benefits, particularly for nature-based solutions and disaster risk prevention, and the “triple dividend” of adaptation: avoiding future human, natural and material losses; generating economic benefits by reducing risks, increasing productivity, and stimulating innovation; and the social, environmental and cultural benefits. 
 
Box 1: The example of droughts