Upcoming policy initiatives to prepare Europe to become climate resilient

The first European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) released in 2024 delivered an expert synthesis of current and future climate impacts and highlighted urgent cross-sector climate risks. A central information source of the assessment was Copernicus data and information, covering both climatic and non-climatic impact drivers. 36 major risks were identified in EUCRA, covering human health, infrastructure, ecosystems, food security and financial systems. Many of these risks have already reached critical levels and can become catastrophic by the end of the century. The urgency to act is high, as policies are lagging behind the fast-increasing risks as Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average. Policy priorities related to adaptation in Europe were highlighted in the first EUCRA, based on the urgent risks.

EUCRA is a scientific cornerstone of the evidence base for the EU’s upcoming climate risk and resilience policy package: the integrated framework on climate risk and resilience. This integrated framework will bring together risk assessment, preparedness and adaptation measures across the Union. A cornerstone of the integrated framework is the evidence generated by the first EUCRA.

The European Environment Agency is currently preparing the second climate risk assessment (EUCRA-2), due for publication in 2028 in time to inform the next political cycle. This second climate risk assessment aligns with wider EU risk and preparedness initiatives, highlighting climate risk as a structural economic threat, and of course the Preparedness Union Strategy and the integrated framework on climate risk and resilience, and the European Water Resilience Strategy. EUCRA-2 aims to better serve operational preparedness and early-warning development through strengthened quantitative analysis for selected risks, improved assessment of adaptation options and policy context.