Establishment of an Indicator Concept for the German Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change

Even if we succeed in achieving the EU target of reducing global warming to 2°C, it will be absolutely essential to adapt to changing climatic conditions. The greenhouse gases cur-rently present in the atmosphere will influence the climate in coming decades. The day on which it is quite clear which climatic scenario prevails, so that it is possible to model all rele-vant processes down to regional level, will be the day on which it is too late to adapt to the actual scenario. Our endeavours to adapt to climate change do not mean, however, that we can neglect to take measures in order to reduce the output of greenhouse gases. It is impor-tant to remember that on their own, neither adaptation nor mitigation can prevent the grave impacts resulting from climate change. In fact, they complement each other meaningfully thus helping to alleviate the risks of climate change.