Escalating climate risks demand coordinated action

Global average temperatures have risen to around 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels. With insufficient global progress on mitigation, exceeding the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal is increasingly likely. Europe is warming about twice as fast as the global average, driving more frequent and severe climate hazards, including heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, flooding, sea-level rise, and coastal erosion with impacts felt across all regions.

In response to these escalating and increasingly systemic risks, the Advisory Board’s new report, Strengthening resilience to climate change – Recommendations for an effective EU adaptation policy framework, sets out how the EU can reinforce its approach to climate adaptation. The report emphasizes that while rapid and sustained mitigation is indispensable to limit future warming, strengthening adaptation is equally crucial to prepare for unavoidable temperature increases and to safeguard Europe’s strategic priorities.

The report was developed with the participation of IIASA’s Keywan Riahi, Joeri Rogelj, and Edgar Hertwich, who are all members of the Advisory Board, reflecting the Institute’s longstanding engagement in evidence-based climate policy at the European level.

The publication highlights that adaptation efforts across the EU must become more coherent, better coordinated, and more effectively implemented. As climate impacts intensify, risks are becoming increasingly interconnected across sectors and borders, requiring systemic approaches that align EU, national, and local action.

“Europe is entering a period where climate impacts are no longer distant risks but present-day realities affecting lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure,” says Riahi, Director of the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program, who is currently serving a second term as a Board member. “Mitigation remains essential to limit long-term warming, but adaptation must be scaled up now to enhance resilience, reduce vulnerabilities, and protect Europe’s economic and social systems.”

The report outlines recommendations to strengthen governance, improve risk assessments, mobilize finance, and ensure that adaptation policies are aligned with broader EU objectives, including climate neutrality, biodiversity protection, and economic resilience.

All previous reports published by the Advisory Board are available via the IIASA repository, PURE.

Further information:
Escalating climate impacts demand urgent, coordinated adaptation across the EU