The European Commission is undertaking an evaluation of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change to assess its implementation and performance, compared to what was expected at the time the Strategy was adopted in 2013. It also looks at the evolution of the needs to which the Strategy responds, for example in light of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which treats adaptation to climate change on equal footing with greenhouse gas emission reduction. As part of the process, the Commission has launched a 12-week public consultation to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders.
The online consultation started on 7 December 2017 and will be open until 1 March 2018. The evaluation follows the standard framework for evaluation of EU policies and examines the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value (see the evaluation roadmap here). All citizens and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from professionals dealing with adaptation to climate change in all types of organisations in the EU.
The consultation is made up of 14 questions (including 6 questions on the identity of the respondent). All questions are closed except for the last which allows for commenting or providing further information (1 000 characters). Questions both relate to testimonies the respondent might have of evidence of climate change and/or adaptation measures in his place of living, as well as feedback on the conclusions of the preliminary study to support the evaluation of the EU Adaptation Strategy (it is therefore useful to read it beforehand). In addition, you can also upload a document proving further information, comments or suggestions (1 MB maximum).
The EU Adaptation Strategy was adopted in 2013 and aims to increase the resilience across the Member States to respond to impacts of climate change. The Strategy commits to delivering three objectives:
- Promoting action by Member States;
- ‘Climate-proofing’ action at EU level;
- Better-informed decision-making.
These objectives are achieved through the implementation of eight Actions ranging from “providing LIFE funding to support capacity building and step up adaptation action in Europe (2014-2020)” to “facilitating the climate-proofing of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Cohesion Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)”, while also including “ensuring more resilient infrastructure” and “bridging the knowledge gap” for instance.
The evaluation of the strategy is due to be completed in autumn 2018.
More info:
- To respond to the consultation, click here
- To know more about the evaluation process of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, click here
- To know more about the EU Adaptation Strategy, click here
- To read Euromontana’s Declaration “Face the challenge of climate change: adaptation for future generations”, click here
