Adaptation • Planning and implementing adaptation in the EU: State of multilevel integration of adaptation policies

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING ADAPTATION IN THE EU: STATE OF MULTILEVEL INTEGRATION OF ADAPTATION POLICIES

Drawing from existing legal and policy documents as well as scientific literature, this study explores the current multilevel framework that exists across the European Union, national and subnational levels for climate change adaptation. It analyses the roles and obligations of different levels of government in planning and implementing adaptation actions, and how the relationship between these levels is articulated and coordinated.

More precisely, it looks at:

• Key concepts to understand « adaptation », « risks » and « vulnerability » and the place-based nature of these
• The current global state of adaptation, marked by a multiplicity of actors and a deficit in financing
• The structure of the adaptation policy cycle and its global governance
• The development of the European Union’s Adaptation Strategy and what is currently entails in terms of governance
• Differing national approaches to multilevel integration: top-down approaches and bottom-up approaches
• Subnational policies and their contribution to the bottom-up dynamic
• The state of advancement in different stages of the policy cycle in the EU: from risk assessments to MRE
• The preponderance of EU funding for adaptation actions

The study also includes two infographics to better understand the multilevel integration of European adaptation policy: one on the governance under existing laws and coordination between policy documents, and another on the timeline of coordination between documents.

Following the Climate Chance Europe 2024 Wallonia Summit and the Liège Declaration on Adaptation Challenges, Climate Chance continues its mission to mobilise and collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders on the major challenges of adaptation in the EU with the eMag « Adaptation in Europe ».