EU Unveils Climate Resilience Framework and Proposed Law: Common Warming Trajectory, National Resilience Plans Required
The European Commission presented a new EU Framework for Climate Resilience in Brussels on October 27, together with a proposed European Climate Resilience Law. Member states will have to draw up national climate-resilience strategic plans and clearly identify the authorities responsible, using a common reference warming trajectory for risk assessment and investment decisions: 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030, 2°C by 2050 and 3°C by 2100.
The Commission estimates climate-damage losses in Europe at about €200 billion over 2022-2025, roughly €50 billion a year, and notes that 75% of Europeans live in cities and urban areas. Extreme weather this summer claimed more than 35,000 lives and burned roughly 700,000 hectares. Citing a European Central Bank finding, the Commission said private insurers cover on average only about a quarter of climate damage. The package also includes a planned Climate Insurance Alliance, with initial measures by the end of 2027, and a digital visualisation tool launched on October 28.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said Europe must be 'resilient by design' rather than face 'disaster by default', describing resilience investment as necessary to protect people, infrastructure and the economy as climate risks rise.
Under the proposal, national climate-resilience strategic plans are to be in place by December 31, 2030 at the latest. The proposed law will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 葡萄牙马德拉岛的桉树林火灾（资料图）。anagh 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / An eucalyptus forest fire in Madeira, Portugal (file photo). Photo by anagh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
