EU level

Multi-level governance of urban adaptation action 11

11.1 EU level

Multi-level governance of urban adaptation action

 Provide funding for adaptation and technical support to local authorities to access the funds and comply with the requirements;

 Develop regional, national and EU legislation/guidelines for adaptation, e.g. through the EU Strategy on adaptation to Climate Change;

 Produce, gather and share information needed to develop an adaptation strategy and exchange good-practice examples;

 Define an EU common set of methods and indicators to assess the performance of adaptation projects and monitor the evolution of vulnerabilities and risk;

 Support the creation of adaptation transnational networks on an EU scale.

Given the crosscutting dimension of Climate Change impacts and their transboundary causes, adaptation must be clearly included into different European policy areas (Table 34) to ensure better coherence across sectors and different spatial levels, and effective implementation of the numerous EU regulations and initiatives concerning cities (¹⁵⁹).

Moreover, the EU level may help to fill policy/legislative gaps existing at national levels:

in some Member States, adaptation has been mainstreamed into spatial planning (e.g., Latvia), in others, adaptation has little support from the national level - local or regional governments tend to retain considerable authority in adaptation related issues (e.g., Italy and Sweden). A common EU framework to guide mainstreaming adaptation into national policies would ensure coherence and consistency across EU Member States. A lack of adaptation targets at national level (and legal obligations) also represents an obstacle to the political engagement of local authorities in adaptation. Table 34 identifies a number of areas of European policy as particularly relevant for adaptation (¹⁵²;¹⁵⁴).

(154) Gonzalez, Y., Gomes, G. and Barbosa, P., 2017. A database for identifying EU climate change adaptation policies. European Commission JRC technical report, pp.32.

Table 34. EU policy sectors (and legislative tools) relevant to adaptation

Policy sector Integration of Climate Change adaptation Importance for urban adaptation

Regional and Cohesion policy

— Structural Funds: 20% EU budget allocated to climate related expenditures (Europe 2020) including “promoting Climate Change adaptation and risk prevention”.

— EU Urban Agenda

Highly relevant for urban adaptation: possibility of funding through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), especially the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF)

Highly relevant for urban adaptation: a more coherent and effective implementation of EU regulations and initiatives concerning cities through Partnerships, including Climate Adaptation (¹⁵⁵)

Environment

— Directive 2014/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (EIA);

— Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora;

— COM (2013) 249 final Communication from the

Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the

Committee of the Regions on Green Infrastructure (GI) — Enhancing Europe’s Natural Capital;

— COM (2011) 244 final — Our life insurance, our natural capital: and EU biodiversity strategy to 2020.

EIA directives: relevant to urban adaptation to better understand local vulnerabilities that could act in synergy with Climate Change.

Natural habitats and Green Infrastructures in and around cities deliver important services for adaptation (low regret measures)

Agriculture and rural

development

— Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 169/2005.

Relevant to urban adaptation in regional approaches (e.g., river basin management for water supply to cities)

(155) Climate Adaptation partnership is expected to be launched after summer 2017.

Policy sector Integration of Climate Change adaptation Importance for urban adaptation

Transport and

energy —Eurocodes: ISO TC 268: Sustainable development in communities and cities;

Relevant for urban adaptation: this standard integrates Climate Change into infrastructure standards, fostering smartness and resilience in cities (ISO TC 268 covers energy, transport, water, waste, IT infrastructures).

Industry/private

sector No integration of adaptation — climate related issue are addressed only through the Emission Directive (IED)

Potentially relevant to urban adaptation: private sector investment in climate-proof business and infrastructures represent an alternative resource for city adaptation

Social/Employment EU Urban Agenda — Partnership for urban poverty &

Partnerships for jobs and skills in the local economy

Highly relevant to urban adaptation: the partnerships aim at increasing the inclusion of poor communities and at regenerating deprived neighbourhoods, and at promoting local economic activity, thus reducing socioeconomic vulnerability and strengthening social cohesion in cities.

Health

EU Health 2020: recognizes the Climate Change impacts on health and the need for integrating health issues in all Climate Change mitigation and adaptation strategies (WHO, 2012) (¹⁵⁶);

—COM (2013) 213 final Green paper on the insurance of natural and man-made disasters.

Highly relevant for urban adaptation: Cities host the majority of EU population and most impacts on health will be concentrated here.

(156) WHO, 2012. The new European policy for health –Health 2020. World Health Organization, regional office for Europe. Draft 2, pp.174

Policy sector Integration of Climate Change adaptation Importance for urban adaptation

Water

— Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks;

— Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy;

— COM(2007) 414 final. Communication from the

Commission to the European Parliament and the Council—

Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union;

— COM(2012) 673 final. Communication from the

Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — A Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources.

Flood directive: relevant for regional and urban adaptation (multi- level governance).

Water scarcity and drought directive/communication: relevant for regional and urban adaptation (multi-level governance).

Research Horizon 2020 programme.

Highly relevant for urban adaptation: H2020 funds projects that aim at creating and sharing knowledge about Climate Change impacts and risks (and increasing uptake of main outcome by local authorities).

Source: JRC own elaboration