2.6.2. Findings from self-assessment survey

Implementing adaptation is still at an early stage across Europe

Overall, the response from 30 European countries shows that implementing adaptation is still at an early stage across Europe. Nevertheless, the self-assessment survey demonstrates a varying picture when taking into account for example the different stages of policy making or sectoral activities in the countries. Implementation is most advanced in the water sector, followed by agriculture and forestry. In industry and business, very little or no adaptation activity has been reported by the member countries. In addition, most activities have been reported for the national level.

Ten out of 30 countries report that they are in the implementation stage of the adaptation policy process

Ten countries described themselves as being in the implementation stage of their national adaptation policy process: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. All of these countries have adopted a national adaptation strategy (NAS) and national action plans (NAP) (EEA, 2013, results from Self-assessment).

Some of these countries such as Finland, France, Lithuania and Spain indicated that for some sectors (e.g. water, human health) they have already implemented a portfolio of adaptation measures. The UK stated that for all priority sectors a portfolio of adaptation measures is in place and also being monitored/evaluated.

Most adaptation responses have been reported to be implemented at national level and in the water sector

The self-assessment survey shows that the national level is reported to be the most advanced in implementing adaptation measures (i.e. nationally funded or targeting the whole country). Furthermore, for most sectors, the sub-national level is suggested to be more active in implementing adaptation than the local level (e.g. cities). However, for the built environment, spatial/urban planning and disaster risk reduction more activity on adaptation implementation is reported at the local/city level than at other sub-national levels.

The frontrunner in implementing adaptation at national level is the water sector (Figure 2.16). Results from the self-assessment survey show that 16 out of 26 countries are advanced in implementing adaptation measures in the water sector with either single adaptation measures (i.e. Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey) or a portfolio of adaptation measures (i.e. Finland, France, Portugal, Spain, UK).

The scoring of the stage of adaptation in various sectors also corresponds well with the selection of priority sectors as indicated by 17 member countries (Figure 2.17): the water sector as frontrunner in implementing adaptation also received most scores for being a priority sector/area for implementation, followed by agriculture, forestry and human health. Those sectors are also relatively advanced in putting adaptation into practice, as approximately one third of the countries answering this question have started with implementing adaptation measures in these sectors. In the case of human health, France and the UK have indicated that a portfolio of adaptation measures is in place and monitored.

Sectors where private actors play a large role (e.g. business and services, industries, finance/insurance as well as tourism) are reported to be not very active in implementation. They are also reported as less prioritised for adaptation across Europe (Figure 2.17) (not taking into account sectors which are defined by a specific geographical situation such as mountain or coastal areas).

Furthermore, no adaptation responses have been reported for the sector “cultural heritage”, which is indeed lower down on the list of priorities in adaptation implementation (Figure 2.17).  Nevertheless, in Finland, climate change adaptation is integrated in the revised Strategy of the Cultural Environment (2014).

Figure 2.16 Adaptation progress at national level; Source: EEA Self-assessment survey (n= 26)

Legend:
0 = adaptation is not relevant for my country         1 = need for adaptation not recognised and no mesasures implemented yet
2 = coordination activities for adaptation started    3 = some adaptation measures identified for the sector but not yet implemented
4 = portfolio of adaptation measures identified and implementation (of some) launched
5 = portfolio of adaptation measures implemented
6 = portfolio of adaptation measures in place and monitored/evaluated

Figure 2.17 Priority sectors for adaptation implementation; Source: EEA Self-assessment survey (n= 17)

Countries can have very advanced adaptation measures in place in selected priority sectors, while still being at an early stage of adaptation policy making in general

In general, the self-assessment survey shows a lower level of adaptation put into practice for countries that are in earlier stages of policy-making than for countries that are in the implementation or monitoring and evaluation (M&E) stages. Nevertheless, some of these countries in earlier stages of policy-making have reported that selected sectors are already active with concrete adaptation initiatives, e.g. biodiversity¹, human health, water (at sub-national level) and transport in Belgium; water, built environment and coastal areas in The Netherlands.

Adaptation implementation can also be observed in a few countries without an adaptation policy in place. For example, for most priority sectors (i.e. water, forestry) Italy reports that measures have been identified and some are already implemented. Liechtenstein indicates progress in putting some adaptation activities into practice in sectors such as water and energy.

Providing information is the most frequently reported policy instrument used for implementation

For all sectors/areas represented in the self-assessment survey, all 19 countries answering this question reported the provision of information as the most often used policy instrument for implementing adaptation (see Figure 2.18). The second most often used policy instrument reported is mainstreaming, highlighted for most sectors except for civil protection and cultural heritage (see following section on mainstreaming). Furthermore, action plans are often mentioned in the survey as policy instruments supporting implementation for all sectors/areas except for mountain areas. Less often reported as policy instruments are legislation and financial support (e.g. subsidies, taxes).

Countries at present seem to use partnering instruments, green technologies and legislative instruments only rarely for fostering implementation.

Looking at the use of policy instruments from a sectoral perspective, most instruments for implementation were reported for the water sector, a priority sector and frontrunner in adaptation. By contrast, in areas such as civil protection, finance and insurance, businesses and services as well as cultural heritage, so far only a few policy instruments have been used for implementing adaptation.

Countries in the implementation stage of the adaptation process (i.e. Denmark, Finland, France, Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland) or which have reported to put adaptation into practice mainly in selected sectors (i.e. Belgium, The Netherlands) reported a higher number of implementation instruments.

Figure 2.18 Policy instruments used for implementing adaptation; Source: EEA Self-assessment survey (n= 17)

The majority of countries use mainstreaming to foster adaptation

Mainstreaming is the second most often reported policy instrument for implementation for various sectors. In addition, 26 of 30 countries report integration of adaptation into sectoral policies and programmes to be increasing. In Table 2.11, examples of integrating adaptation into sectoral policies and programmes are presented.

Examples have a focus on environmental sectors such as water and forestry. Besides environment-related policies, mainstreaming adaptation into other policies has been mentioned, especially health by southern European countries. In addition, a few countries report efforts in integrating adaptation into infrastructure and building codes (Belgium, France, Denmark) or electricity (Finland). Guidelines for mainstreaming adaptation into Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) processes are noted by Ireland and Slovenia.

Table 2.11 Examples of mainstreaming adaptation into sectorial policies and programmes (Source: EEA self-assessment survey Q8)

Project-based public support constitutes the most important financing mechanism for implementing adaptation followed by explicit budgetary allocation

Countries indicate a wide range of financing instruments for implementing adaptation. In general, project-based public support is mentioned to be the most important financing mechanism currently in place for adaptation (Figure 2.19). This is true for all sectors/areas except for cultural heritage where insurance mechanisms are used more often than project-based public support. Second most frequently used financing mechanism is an explicit budgetary allocation for adaptation. In case of water and agriculture, explicit budgetary allocations are reported to be used by eleven European countries. In addition, insurance mechanisms are indicated to be often used in agriculture and water as well as in the forestry sector. Generally, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are less often used, but seem to play an important role in the water sector, followed by transport and energy.

Figure 2.19 Financing mechanisms in place for implementing adaptation in sectors identified as relevant (n= 20)

Adaptation implementation is an ongoing process and more progress is likely to be seen in future

Countries report to continue working on implementing adaptation in the future by using different approaches: some countries plan to finalise their adaptation strategies or action plans in a next step (e.g. Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Romania, Slovakia) and others put effort in follow-up initiatives (e.g. Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, UK). Germany for example will present, within the legislative period 2013-2017, a progress report that sets out future measures and instruments to be taken by the German Federal Government. Other countries are currently working on establishing legislation to facilitate mainstreaming of climate change adaptation across various sectors (e.g. Malta). The government of Ireland is also in the process of preparing a legislative basis for actions on climate change including adaptation actions. Finland currently investigates various policy instruments in terms of their suitability to promote adaptation in different sectors most effectively. Countries such as Norway work on establishing climate services with the aim to bring adaptation to the attention of the broad public. In Denmark, the Ministry of Environment supports financially the development of green technologies, including new climate adaptation solutions.

Apart from these examples, many more adaptation relevant activities can be observed, although some are carried out for other purposes and not necessarily under the heading of climate change adaptation.

[1] In this section, as elsewhere in this report, biodiversity is included as a sector, in general reflecting nature protection.