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Recommendations for the European Climate Resilience and Risk Management Framework
Climate change is already impacting all regions of Europe, posing complex challenges for human well-being, ecosystems, and the economy. Even though significant progress has been made over the past years, the forthcoming European Climate Resilience and Risk Management Framework (ECRRMF) must take a more ambitious approach to ensure resilience and preparedness across Europe by 2050.
This scientific opinion paper outlines key recommendations - based on 20 years of experience in Germany - to strengthen the design and implementation of the ECRRMF and proposes key objectives for the framework, as well as actionable pathways across enabling governance mechanisms, the climate adaptation policy cycle and cross-cutting considerations.
Policy Coherence in the EU’s Energy Transition: Aligning National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) with Biodiversity Objectives
The German Environment Agency (UBA) is organising an expert workshop on “Policy Coherence in the EU’s Energy Transition: Aligning National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) with Biodiversity Objectives”. The workshop addresses a key policy challenge: while the EU aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and halt biodiversity loss by 2030, the expansion of renewable energy can at times conflict with biodiversity protection if ecological safeguards and spatial planning are not sufficiently integrated. Bringing together researchers, policy practitioners and civil society representatives, the online workshop will explore how biodiversity considerations can be better embedded in NECPs. Across a series of three thematic sessions in April 2026, participants will discuss current gaps in the NECPs, the role of the European Commission in the process, and the importance of collaborative governance for biodiversity-sensitive energy planning. The workshop aims to develop evidence-based recommendations to strengthen policy coherence. The sessions will be held online via Webex, the working language is English.
Human Utilisation of Space – Trend Analysis of Opportunities and Risks for the Environment
With space activities expanding rapidly, environmental challenges in orbit and on Earth are increasing as well. The trend report highlights how satellite-based applications can support climate action and environmental monitoring, while also showing how rising launch numbers, new actors, expanding satellite constellations, and less visible developments such as new launch sites or planned in-orbit resource extraction contribute to environmental pressures and space debris. The study analyses key developments and identifies action areas for a sustainable use of outer space.
Future-orienting the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
The EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework offers an opportunity to align funding with competitiveness and resilience goals. The current proposal suggests a weakening of the environmental and climate priorities. This policy brief advocates for a future-oriented MFF that embraces resilience, climate change, environment and green innovation. Instruments (Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle, Environment and Climate coefficients, Climate Resilience by Design (CRbD)) must be effectively designed. The European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) including R&I, and the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Cohesion Policy, are a key for a future-oriented EU.
Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions: Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis
The drivers and effects of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution are highly interconnected and can only be effectively addressed through systemic, cross-sectoral, and justice-oriented approaches. This report provides an integrated perspective by examining three mutually reinforcing pathways: governing societal metabolism and resource use through efficiency, sufficiency, and equity; scaling up nature-based solutions to restore ecosystems, reduce emissions, and curb pollution while enhancing well-being; and advancing systemic transformation that reorganizes governance, markets, and societal values to embed justice and resilience.
Umweltbundesamt (German Environment Agency)
Presidential Office
International Relations
Wörlitzer Platz 1
06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Editor:
EU Relations Office
Nicole Adler, Stefanie Wieck, Tim Schubert, Lena Vierke
Email: eu@uba.de
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