Climate change represents one of the biggest challenges for the European Union, with economic losses from extreme events averaging more than €12 billion per year. Given the The EU's goals to achieve climate resilience by 2050 and the increasing risks of extreme weather events make it essential that the built environment — including buildings and critical infrastructure — is adapted to future conditions. A message The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), developed in collaboration with the Scientific Network on Adapting Design to Climate Change, examines progress and standardisation needs in this area.

Strengthening standards: Second generation Eurocodes

The European structural design standards, known as Eurocodes (EN 1990 – EN 1999), play a key role in ensuring the safety and durability of buildings. The second generation of Eurocodes (Eurocodes 2G), which is due to replace previous versions by March 2028, explicitly takes into account the impacts of climate change on structural design.

A key strategic decision was to introduce "change factor" approach (factor of change, FC). This factor, to be chosen by national authorities and standardisation bodies, allows the expected future variations in climatic loads, such as snow and wind loads (change factor as a ratio, $F_C$), to be incorporated already in the design phase. For temperature actions, the delta approach ($\Delta$) is used. Taking these risks into account already in the design phase is extremely cost-effective and reduces the need for expensive retrofitting in the future.

Data harmonization and climate mapping

For the successful implementation of Eurocodes 2G, the priority is to develop updated climate action maps. These maps define the loads that buildings and infrastructure must withstand. However, many existing national maps are outdated, with some based on observations dating back only to the 1990s. Moreover, their production is fragmented — different countries use different reference periods, statistical methods (such as Gumbel, GEV or Frechet distributions) and formats for presenting values.

The JRC network stresses the need for harmonisation and the creation of common framework for statistical methods and input data. The use of advanced and publicly available European climate datasets, such as the ERA5-Land reanalyses, the E-OBS gridded dataset and the EURO-CORDEX regional climate projections, is key to developing resilient maps. For example, for Italy, a case study showed that updating the reference period using more recent data and statistical methods (GEV) led to an increase in the characteristic maximum temperature values, suggesting that current standards are not sufficient for warm conditions. Similarly, Germany is developing an updated high-resolution (1 km x 1 km) snow load map using snow water equivalence (SWE) models.

Specific risks: Corrosion and forest fires

In addition to classic climate stresses such as snow and temperature, attention is also focused on other specific risks exacerbated by climate change:

1. Corrosion of reinforced concrete: A 2024 JRC study projects that climate change will accelerate corrosion in reinforced concrete buildings, primarily due to carbonation, particularly in southern Europe. It is estimated that under the extreme RCP8.5 scenario, up to 90 % of the 30 million buildings assessed in the EU could require repair by 2100. The total repair costs could amount to EUR 883 billion within this scenario.
2. Resistance to forest fires: The increasing frequency and intensity of forest fires in Europe (2023 was among the five worst) requires new approaches, especially in areas of the interface between nature and human settlements (WUI). The current regulatory framework is fragmented. There is an urgent need for climate-informed codes and standards for WUI that would protect not only buildings (using fire-resistant materials and designs) but also critical infrastructure (transport, energy). A case study from the border of Portugal and Spain highlighted that digital tools such as GIS-FA are key to improving response and prevention, especially in cross-border regions.

Conclusion and recommendations

The JRC network plays an important role in supporting the development of climate-resilient construction practices and facilitating expert collaboration and knowledge sharing. A key policy recommendation is to integrate climate change adaptation into policy measures, guidelines and standards. This requires the development of harmonised protocol at EU level for integrating climate data (including CMIP, CORDEX and DestinE scenarios) into structural design. Awareness raising, training and sharing of best practices are essential to strengthen skills in combating climate risks. JRi