The last Environment Council under Belgian presidency last Monday 17 June 2024, in addition to voting on the much-discussed Nature Restoration Act, also emphasised 'managing climate risks'. Preparing for future climate risks and increasing climate resilience are essential elements in the transition to a sustainable European society.
The Council calls on both the European Commission and Member States to anticipate in a timely manner updated climate reports, including the European Environment Agency's EUCRA (European Cimate Risk Assessment) showing the need for urgent and decisive action to avoid a climate catastrophe.
Risk assessments on a national and even local scale are indispensable for assessment to prepare for future security risks.
Urgent action and measures are needed to implement plans made. As climate change is already irreversible, adaptation scenarios will be accelerated anyway to reduce the likelihood of security risks:
This way of working bets on preventive measures that take into account constantly updated scenarios.
Cerac aims to identify the associated medium- and long-term safety risks. These risk analyses bring together the main findings made at the different policy levels and thus form a general overview of climate risks and possible adaptation measures.
In doing so, Cerac recognises the link between climate change and biodiversity loss and the trade-off between the two.