14 May 2012: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released a report on the challenges posed by climate change to urban areas in Europe and how cities can adapt to climate change. The report identifies climate change challenges and responses, describes means of planning urban adaptation, and examines how multi-level governance enables urban adaptation.

The report, titled “Urban Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Cities Together with Supportive National and European Policies,” identifies the following challenges: heat; flooding; and water scarcity and droughts. It discusses planning steps for adaptation, including: assessing climate change risks and vulnerability; identifying adaptation options; prioritizing options; implementing actions; and monitoring and evaluating outcomes.

The report highlights the need to: raise awareness; adopt cross-sectoral and multi-level approaches; use co-benefits; confront uncertainty; and work with nature and securing resources. It emphasizes the importance of multi-level governance as a means of enabling urban adaptation, including at the local, regional, national and European levels. As pillars of multi-level governance, the report identifies: policy coherence across levels; institutional capacity building at all levels; access to funding; and multi-level knowledge bases. [Publication: Urban Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Cities Together With Supportive National and European Policies]