The Climate Change Adaptation Mission aims to support EU regions, cities and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. (more…)

A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows that records for greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean warming and acidification, sea level rise, Antarctic sea ice and glacier retreat have again been broken and in some cases broken.

Heat waves, floods, droughts, wildfires and rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones have caused misery and chaos, upended daily life for millions and caused many billions of dollars in economic losses, according to the WMO State of the Global Climate 2023 report.

The WMO report confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year on record, with a global mean surface temperature of 1.45°C (with an uncertainty margin of ±0.12°C) above the pre-industrial baseline. It was the warmest decade on record.

"Sirens are blaring in all the main indicators... Some records are not only at the top of the charts, but are being broken. And the changes are accelerating," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. (More on wmo.int)

Cities and regions are at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Although they have a great responsibility in this regard, they often lack the tools to implement solutions. Integrated energy, climate and spatial planning offers a potential tool for ambitious climate action.

Key insights

Adapting to climate change means taking measures to prepare for and adapt to the current effects of climate change, as well as anticipated impacts in the future. Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Although we have committed to reducing net global emissions to zero by 2050, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to increase in the coming decades and average global temperatures will rise.

As the climate warms, it will bring with it all kinds of risks. From more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts or floods to coastal erosion caused by rising sea levels, the impacts will affect everyone.

Therefore, the Commission adopted on 24 February 2021 the new EU adaptation strategy. ( More on climate.ec.europa.eu)

In our daily lives, resilience and adaptation help us overcome major challenges and turn problems into effective solutions. Similarly, climate change adaptation means adapting to a warmer world in order to protect people, nature, our prosperity and way of life.

The climate and biodiversity crisis in Europe and around the world challenges us all to join forces and act in new and innovative ways. Adapting to climate change requires understanding, planning and acting in ways that not only reduce the negative impacts of climate change, but also create new opportunities to become safer and more resilient. ( More on research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu)

As climate change accelerates, there is increasing urgency for countries to implement key plans that build resilience to the impacts of climate change. To do this, they need adequate funding, as well as national capacity and know-how to access available funding. This was the key takeaway from the UNFCCC Climate Change Adaptation Committee's virtual dialogue this month.

Funding is needed for adaptation measures ranging from building seawalls against rising sea levels to increasing the resilience of health systems in communities hit by increasingly frequent and severe storms and heat waves. (More on unfccc.int)