The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change has called on the EU to urgently strengthen its policy framework for effective and coherent adaptation, noting that whilst rapid and sustained mitigation is needed to limit future warming, strengthening adaptation is also crucial to prepare for unavoidable temperature increases.

Its new report, Strengthening Resilience to Climate Change – recommendations for an effective EU adaptation policy framework sets out how the EU can strengthen its approach to climate adaptation in the face of escalating and increasingly systemic climate risks.

The report notes warming about twice as fast as the global average, with rising temperatures driving more frequent and severe climate hazards; including heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, flooding, sea-level rise and coastal erosion; and impacts felt across all regions.

Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, chair of the Advisory Board, commented: Weather, and climate, related extreme events are already causing severe losses across Europe. Extreme heat alone has resulted in tens of thousands of premature deaths in recent years, including an estimated 24,000 in summer 2025. Economic damages to infrastructure and physical assets now average around € 45bn per year. These mounting impacts underline that strengthening adaptation is not optional, but essential to protect lives, livelihoods and Europe’s economic foundations.”

The report notes that scientific projections show climate hazards will continue to increase in intensity and frequency. Adapting in an early and strategic manner is the most effective way to manage climate risks and can deliver high societal returns, with social, economic and ecosystem benefits.

In summary, the port notes: Even under optimistic mitigation pathways, hazards will intensify in the decades ahead. Europe must therefore act on both fronts at once: cutting emissions to limit future risks, while strengthening adaptation to minimise climate impacts.

---