climate adaptation

Climate change will affect the frequency, intensity and regional occurrence of extreme weather events and lead to gradual climatic changes. Although impacts appear locally at first, they spread beyond political borders due to the global physical and economic interconnectedness. A new UBA report provides an overview of the potential impact chains of global climate change on the German economy.

Sources of natural hazards, such as heavy rainfall, flooding, winter storms or lightning, can cause major accidents. Climate change can change the intensity, frequency and local distribution of such sources of hazards. Operators of installations in which large quantities of hazardous substances are present and the authorities responsible for them must therefore adapt their risk management.

Examples like the earthquake and tsunamis 2011 in Japan and the devastating hurricane Harvey 2017 in the USA, make aware that natural hazards not just cause destruction of private houses but also led to accidents at installations containing hazardous substances. They can cause releases of hazardous substances, fire, and explosions endangering people and significantly pollute the environment.

Climate-ADAPT, an online knowledge platform provided by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission since 2012, has grown into the most important place for information when it comes to adaptation to climate change in Europe. A report of the EEA informs about the experiences and effectiveness of the platform and points to ways of further improving it.

The public law of local planning serves the purpose of spatial allocation and development of construction sites, roads, infrastructure and areas that are to be kept free of development.

A new OECD report discusses examples from countries like Germany, Japan and New Zealand of how transport policy can be better adapted to climate change. The report also examines the major challenges in assessing the economic damage caused by greenhouse gases.