EC Consults on Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change
EC launched a consultation for the new climate change adaptation strategy, the comment period for which ends on August 20, 2020. The plan is to put forward this strategy in early 2021, as part of the European Green Deal. This adaptation strategy will build on the strategy that was adopted in 2013. EC also published the results of the new project on Projection of Economic impact of climate change in Sectors of the EU, based on the bottom-up Analysis (PESETA).
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world. The new adaptation strategy should continue and expand on the ongoing efforts. As part of its Green Deal, EC launched this strategy to help the EU adapt to the effects of climate change, by focusing on encouraging investment in eco-friendly solutions, climate-proofing the economy, making key infrastructure more resilient, adding climate factors to risk management practice, and stepping up prevention and preparedness. Throughout EU and the globe, it will be important that investors, insurers, businesses, cities, and citizens are able to access data and develop instruments to integrate climate change into their risk management practices.
The new adaptation strategy should continue and expand on current efforts. The policy actions to be continued and expanded as under the 2013 Strategy include:
- Further mainstreaming and integrating adaptation in EU legislation and instruments.
- Continuing to support, monitor, and share member state adaptation action and goals, including through the Climate Law, via Climate-ADAPT, reporting under the National Energy and Climate Plans and the Energy Union Governance Regulation, and through regular exchanges
- Closing further gaps in adaptation-relevant knowledge through the regular programming of research and innovation activities under Horizon 2020 and its successor, Horizon Europe as well as through trends and forecasts
- Financially supporting adaptation actions, including cross-border inter alia through continued support from EU funds
- By fostering and incentivizing private investment in adaptation in relation with the Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy and the EU taxonomy (the first Taxonomy Delegated Act will focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation).
The new adaptation strategy should also tackle new priorities. The additional priorities that the EU could pursue toward climate-resilience, in full synergy with the other strategic initiatives announced in the European Green Deal, include more and better data, deeper knowledge and faster deployment of solutions, closing the climate protection gap, preventing damage to infrastructure and beyond, and reinforced global action for climate resilience. Overall, efforts to measure (increased) resilience to climate change need to be continued and upgraded and linked to a more ambitious monitoring and evaluation system. What could be envisioned is the development of relevant indicators that help measure progress and that are more comparable across countries; for example, in case of similar types of climate hazards and related adaptation actions and policies.
The 2013 strategy relied on a scoreboard to assess preparedness; the new strategy could use a dashboard to assess resilience and subsequently monitor the trend over time, with regular progress reports on specific targets. Strengthening effective monitoring and evaluation tools for adaptation policies and measures in partner countries will continue to be of central interest in EU’s international action and support.
Related Links
Comment Due Date: August 20, 2020
Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, Insurance, Securities, European Green Deal, Climate Change Risk, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Adaptation Strategy, EC
Featured Experts

Michael Denton, PhD, PE
Dr. Denton provides industry leadership in the quantification of sustainability issues, climate risk, trade credit and emerging lending risks. His deep foundations in market and credit risk provide critical perspectives on how climate/sustainability risks can be measured, communicated and used to drive commercial opportunities, policy, strategy, and compliance. He supports corporate clients and financial institutions in leveraging Moody’s tools and capabilities to improve decision-making and compliance capabilities, with particular focus on the energy, agriculture and physical commodities industries.
Previous Article
APRA Updates List of Validation Rules for ReportingRelated Articles
EBA Clarifies Use of COVID-19-Impacted Data for IRB Credit Risk Models
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published four draft principles to support supervisory efforts in assessing the representativeness of COVID-19-impacted data for banks using the internal ratings based (IRB) credit risk models.
EP Reaches Agreement on Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The European Council and the European Parliament (EP) reached a provisional political agreement on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
PRA Consults on Model Risk Management Principles for Banks
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) launched a consultation (CP6/22) that sets out proposal for a new Supervisory Statement on expectations for management of model risk by banks.
EC Regulation Amends Standards for Calculating Credit Risk Adjustments
The European Commission (EC) published the Delegated Regulation 2022/954, which amends regulatory technical standards on specification of the calculation of specific and general credit risk adjustments.
BIS Hub Updates Work Program for 2022, Announces New Projects
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub updated its work program, announcing a set of projects across various centers.
EIOPA Issues Cyber Underwriting Proposal, Statement on Open Insurance
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published two consultation papers—one on the supervisory statement on exclusions related to systemic events and the other on the supervisory statement on the management of non-affirmative cyber exposures.
US Senate Members Seek Details on SEC Proposed Climate Disclosure Rule
Certain members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs issued a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
EIOPA Consults on Review of Securitization Framework in Solvency II
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published a consultation paper on the advice on the review of the securitization prudential framework in Solvency II.
BIS Bulletins Discuss DeFi Lending and Aspects of Crypto-Assets
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published bulletins on lending in decentralized finance (DeFi) system, on blockchain scalability and fragmentation of crypto, and on extractable value and market manipulation in crypto and decentralized finance.
UK Authorities Issue Regulatory and Reporting Updates for Banks
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) issued a statement on PRA buffer adjustment while the Bank of England (BoE) published a notice on the statistical reporting requirements for banks.