The European Commission published its first Green Paper on “Adapting to climate change in Europe – options for EU action” in 2007, more than 15 years ago. But it was only after the devastating floods in Valencia and heavy rainfall in many other European regions in the autumn of 2024 that adaptation to climate change suddenly rose to the top of the public agenda in Europe. This begs the question: how well is Europe prepared?
The answer is, as is often the case: It depends. There are huge differences in how European cities are preparing for the impacts of climate change. Regional disparities can not only be explained by different levels of affectedness by climate change. Rather, the reflect the amount of knowledge available in a city, the financial resources available to the city, and the commitment of the administration to adapting the city to climate risks.
Photo: ©Heiko Küverling
