Commission calls for immediate adaptation measures

Publication date: 16 March 2009

The European Commission will present, in early April, a white paper on adaptation to climate change. “Even if we do not yet have a clear idea of what we will have to face, we know that there is and will be a major impact, different depending on the region, and that measures need to be taken soon. We know enough to say that we have to get to work immediately,” observed Peter Gammeltoft, ‘water’ director at the European Commission, speaking at the ‘Climate change and water’ conference, held on 12 and 13 March in Brussels. The white paper, which will focus on the domestic aspect, is meant to launch a process of implementing immediate adaptation actions and developing research into climate change impacts.

Problems due to climate change range from drought to floods, from coastal zones to inland waterways: adapting to both requires better management of water resources and better territorial management (low-cost solutions exist, such as water storage, rebuilding dunes to protect coastal areas). Without turning to legislative proposals, the Commission proposes to give a boost to research and modelisation and to develop cooperation at all political levels, regional, local and between competent authorities, in order to ensure coherence and avoid duplication. Solutions will require changes to certain practices and factoring the water problem into all EU policies: agriculture, energy, transport and internal market. Many of these measures can be implemented now and financial instruments (Agricultural Fund, Regional Fund, Cohesion Fund, LIFE+ and EIB) are available, notes the Commission.

Source: Europolitics