EU mulls climate-change adaptation strategy

The European Commission presented on the 1 April 2009 a White Paper outlining actions needed to strengthen the Union's resilience in coping with a changing climate.

Recent findings indicate that the impacts of climate change will be swifter and more severe than indicated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their 2007 report.

Europe will not escape these effects and must therefore prepare to cope with them. The impact of climate change will have varying regional implications meaning that most adaptation measures will need to be taken nationally and regionally.

The framework presented by the European Commission sets out a two-phase strategic approach to adapting to the impacts of climate change in the EU which complements actions taken by Member States through an integrated and coordinated approach.

• Primary Source

European Commission: DG Environment: Policies: Climate change: Living with climate change in Europe http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/index_en.htm

European Commission: Press Release: IP/09/519: Adapting to climate change: the European Union must prepare for the impacts to come http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/519&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

---