The EU, member states and the private sector need to invest around €70 billion a year in climate adaptation until 2050, according to a new report.
The report, commissioned by the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) and funded under Horizon Europe, highlights the importance of climate adaptation to reduce exposure to increasing climate change and improve resilience.
As global warming trends continue and the socio-economic costs of climate-related events continue to increase, investing in adaptation and resilience is more urgent than ever.
Global warming in the EU is progressing rapidly
Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, making climate adaptation a key survival strategy.
While mitigation efforts aim to limit future damage, adaptation is essential to managing the inevitable impacts of climate change that are already occurring.
The importance of EU adaptation can be categorized into three main areas:
economic resilience
Climate-related disasters have already cost the EU more than €800 billion since 1980, including the devastating floods in Germany and Belgium in 2021 and repeated droughts in the Mediterranean.
Active adaptation acts as an economic safety net. It is much cheaper to invest in flood protection now than to rebuild an entire city later.
Keeping food and water safe
Agriculture is highly sensitive to changes in weather patterns. Adaptation will ensure that Europe’s food systems can survive by promoting drought-tolerant crops and smarter irrigation.
Without these measures, the EU will face significant risks to food sovereignty and consumer price increases.
Protecting health and social equity
Heatwaves are Europe’s deadliest climate threat, disproportionately impacting older and vulnerable populations.
Climate adaptation includes modern public health protocols to cool cities (such as “green roofs” and parks) and save lives.
Additionally, “equitable resilience” ensures that poor communities that may lack the resources to recover from disasters are not left behind and maintains the commonwealth’s social cohesion.
Investing in the future of the EU
This study is the first of its kind to focus on climate adaptation investment needs and extract the costs of climate-related events, filling an important knowledge gap.
It estimates the adaptation investment needs of the EU and all Member States using a common methodology, taking into account the risk clusters identified in the 2024 European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) and individual adaptation measures at EU and Member State level.
The study found that of the €70 billion per year required for climate adaptation, around €30 billion is needed for infrastructure development, €21 billion for ecosystems and €12 billion for food security.
Climate adaptation needs remain unmet across the EU
The report highlights that current climate adaptation financing is inadequate and that investments in adaptation deliver co-benefits, including in climate mitigation.
This study represents a significant step forward in understanding the scale and nature of adaptation investment needs, but highlights the need for better data on adaptation costs.
Given the key role of the public sector in implementing adaptation measures, adaptation investment needs and climate risks should also be better integrated into national budget planning.
Which countries have the greatest climate adaptation needs?
France, Italy, Germany and Spain have the greatest need for adaptation investment, partly due to their geographical and economic size.
The report also found that the scale and type of investment required varies widely between Member States, depending on each country’s characteristics.
Overall, we emphasize that further work is needed to assess needs under different climate scenarios, desired resilience targets, residual risks, and assess the cost-effectiveness of adaptation measures.
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