The European Union and Ireland have made significant commitments to mitigate climate change, with a particular focus on transitioning towards renewable energy sources and reducing reliance on fossil fuels for energy production. Transitioning to renewable energy production is a critical step in mitigating the impacts of climate change, but it alone won’t guarantee a resilient future. Adaptation to the unavoidable impacts of climate change must be integrated into a broader, interconnected framework to ensure resilience.
The European Commission’s adoption of the new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change on 24 February 2021 represents a strategy that aims to make adaptation efforts smarter, faster, and more systemic, reflecting a comprehensive approach to building resilience across the European Union. Smarter adaptation using up-to-date scientific data and risk assessment tools, faster adaptation focuses on developing and rolling out adaptation solutions to help reduce climate-related risk and a more systemic implementation of adaptation strategies and plans at all levels of governance with connectivity within them (European Commission, 2021).