Climate change adaptation in the European Union: Limits and potentials of a multi-level policy

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change in the European Union (EU) has been late and scarcely developed. Many Member States are reluctant to adopt national adaptation plans (NAP) and some even oppose to the EU’s adopting binding norms. The EU tries to counter these limitations through the integration of adaptation measures in other policies of its competence. The local entities’ greater activism of sustainability also permits to compensate the states’ inertia. In contrast to its domestic action, the EU has become the main promoter of NAP in third countries through its development aid policy. This international cooperation is a potentially valuable tool to generate multilateral effects that may facilitate the adoption of a new post-2020 global climate order.