Climate change impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016

Policy context
Europe) information in these reports on climate
change impacts and vulnerability. These National
Communications have been used as background
material for this EEA indicator-based report.
The objective of the Nairobi Work Programme
(UNFCCC, 2005) is to assist all countries, but in
particular developing countries, in improving their
understanding and assessment of impacts, vulnerability
and adaptation to climate change, and in making
decisions on practical adaptation actions and measures
on a sound scientific, technical and socio-economic
basis.
In 2009, developed countries pledged to provide new
and additional resources of USD 30 billion for the
period 2010–2012 in a Fast Start Finance programme,
with balanced allocation between mitigation and
adaptation, and USD 100 billion annually by 2020.
The Cancun Agreements, adopted at the UN Climate
Conference in Mexico (UNFCCC, 2010), established
a Green Climate Fund, through which much of the
funding will be channelled. Public and private finance
provided by developed countries was estimated to be
USD 62 billion in 2014, up from USD 52 billion in 2013
(OECD, 2015). The EU and its Member States provided
EUR 7.34 billion in 'fast start finance' from public
budgets and other development finance institutions
from 2010 to 2012 and, in 2013 and 2014, these
contributions were, respectively, EUR 9.5 billion and
EUR 14.5 billion (EC, 2016a).
With regard to adaptation, governments agreed at the
Paris COP21 (UNFCCC, 2015):
• to establish the adaptation goal of 'enhancing
adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and
reducing vulnerability to climate change';
• to strengthen societies' ability to deal with the
impacts of climate change;
• to engage in national adaptation planning
processes;
• to provide continued and enhanced international
support for adaptation to developing countries.
The EU and developed countries outside the EU will
continue to support climate action to reduce emissions
and build resilience to climate change impacts in
developing countries. Other countries are encouraged
to provide or continue to provide such support
voluntarily. Developed countries intend to continue
their existing collective goal to provide USD 100 billion
per year until 2025 when a new collective goal will
be set.
2.1.2 Disaster risk reduction and sustainable
development
The issue of climate change mitigation and adaptation
has increasingly become an integrated part of
economic analyses and is now a prominent element
of risk assessments for public and private bodies.
'The Global Risks Report 2016' of the World Economic
Forum (WEF, 2016) indicates that the most impactful
risk for the years to come (i.e. the risk with the greatest
potential damage) was found to be a failure of climate
change mitigation and adaptation. This is the first time
an environmental risk has topped the WEF ranking,
ahead of weapons of mass destruction (second), water
crises (third), large-scale involuntary migration (fourth)
and a severe energy price shock (fifth). The number
one risk in 2016 in terms of likelihood, meanwhile, is
large-scale involuntary migration, followed by extreme
weather events (second), a failure of climate change
mitigation and adaptation (third), interstate conflict
with regional consequences (fourth) and major natural
catastrophes (fifth).
The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction (WCDRR), held in Sendai, Japan (14–18 March
2015) adopted the 'Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015–2030' (UN, 2015). The framework is
a voluntary, non-binding agreement. It includes four
priorities for action:
• Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk.
• Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to
manage disaster risk.
• Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for
resilience.
• Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for
effective response and to 'Build Back Better' in
recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The framework includes seven targets intended to
drive progress on protecting human beings and
assets from extreme weather, and other natural and
man‐made hazards. These targets aim to reduce
global disaster mortality, the number of affected
people globally, direct disaster economic loss, disaster
damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of
basic services; to increase the number of countries
with national and local disaster risk reduction
strategies; to enhance international cooperation to
developing countries; and to increase the availability
of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems
and disaster risk information and assessments. The
framework acknowledges climate change as 'one of
the drivers of disaster risk'.
Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016 | An indicator-based report
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