European climate change reports launched in Brussels

The reports are published by the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), a grouping of seven of the biggest European environmental research institutes. PEER is chaired by Professor Pat Nuttall, Director of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Speakers at the Brussels event include Prof. Nuttall, the lead authors of the two reports, Rob Swart, from Alterra in the Netherlands and Per Mickwitz, from Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Ellen Margrethe Basse from Aarhus University, and Katherine Richardson, Vice Dean, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, who organised the recent Climate Change Conference in Denmark held in March 2009

Peter Gammeltoft said, “I greatly welcome the publication of these two new reports from the Partnership for European Environmental Research. It is this sort of dialogue between the research institutes across Europe and national and European policymakers that is essential if we are to successfully deal with the many threats that climate change poses.”

The first new report from PEER, 'Europe Adapts to Climate Change: Comparing National Adaptation Strategies', critically analyzes the current status of national adaptation strategies in EU member states, and identifies a variety of opportunities to strengthen their further development and implementation, including timely and targeted scientific research.

The second report, 'Climate Policy Integration, Coherence and Governance', concludes that specific measures to tackle climate change, such as emissions trading, will only be successful if they are coherently supported by other government policies addressing economic and social issues.

Professor Pat Nuttall, Director, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK, said, “As PEER chair, I know how important it is to work together within Europe to ensure that future decisions will be based on the best information available, minimizing risks and, in some cases, turning threats into opportunities. There is a huge need for increased policy and programme evaluation from a climate change perspective, and these reports are a contribution towards achieving this goal.”

The new reports deal with several aspects of implementing climate policy in Europe. The first report analyses the adaptation strategies of the EU member states, identifying a number of common strengths and weaknesses of the current strategies in the countries studied. The second report assesses the degree of climate policy integration in six different European countries, at national and local levels, as well as within key policy sectors such as energy and transport. It analyses measures and means to enhance climate policy integration and improve policy coherence.

Rob Swart, from Alterra in the Netherlands, the lead author of report 1 on 'Europe Adapts to Climate Change: Comparing National Adaptation Strategies' said, “We note that communication and awareness raising is going to be important to get public support for adaptation measures, and to help stakeholders to adapt. Since adaptation is very different from mitigation, communication should be designed specifically for that purpose, including exchange of experiences on adaptation practices. It could well be that breaking down institutional barriers will actually be more important than the technical feasibility of adaptation options.”

Dr. Per Mickwitz, from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), lead author of report 2 on 'Climate Policy Integration, Coherence and Governance', said, “Although the inclusion of climate change mitigation and adaptation in general governmental programmes and strategies has substantially increased in recent years, much more is needed in terms of integrating climate issues into specific policy measures. Annual budgets, environmental impact assessments and spatial planning procedures are three examples of existing measures which we believe have significant potential to be climate policy instruments.”

Editors notes

The full reports are available from the PEER website
www.peer.eu
To contact Professor Pat Nuttall – Centre for Ecology & Hydrology: Barnaby Smith, Press Officer Mobile: tel: +44 (0) 7920 295384; Email: cehpress@ceh.ac.uk

Lead author – report 1 – Rob Swart, Alterra, Netherlands, tel: +31 (0) 317 481193

Lead author – report 2 – Dr Per Mickwitz, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) tel: +358 (0)400 148847

Created in 2001, PEER is a partnership of seven large European environmental research centres. PEER members cover the full spectrum of the environmental sciences and combine basic with applied research anticipating societal needs. PEER members carry out their research in strategic and interdisciplinary multi-annual programmes, working with partners worldwide to solve complex environmental challenges. The vision of PEER is to be a world leader in integrating knowledge and expertise for sustainable development, in support of policymakers, industry and society.

PEER member institutes:

Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, The Netherlands
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, United Kingdom
Cemagref – Centre for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Research, France
JRC – Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission
NERI – National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Denmark
Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Finland
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany
The full references for the reports are:
Swart, R.J., Biesbroek, G.R., Binnerup, S. Carter, T.R., Cowan, C., Henrichs, T., Loquen, S., Mela, H., Morecroft, M.D., Reese, M., and D. Rey, (2009) Europe Adapts to Climate Change: Comparing National Adaptation Strategies. PEER-Report No 1. Helsinki. Partnership for European Environmental Research, Helsinki, 280pp.

Mickwitz, P., Aix, F., Beck, S., Carss, D., Ferrand, N., Görg, C., Jensen, A., Kivimaa, P., Kuhlicke, C., Kuindersma, W., Máñez, M., Melanen, M., Monni, S., Branth Pedersen, A., Reinert, H. and van Bommel, S. (2009) Climate Policy Integration, Coherence and Governance. PEER-Report No 2. Helsinki: Partnership for European Environmental Research. 92pp.

The launch will be held at the EU liaison Office of German Research Organisations, Brussels, Rue du Trône 98 B 1050 Brussels between 1200 and 1500 on 23rd June 2009

Media Contact

Tilo Arnhold EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.ufz.de

All latest news from the category: Ecology, The Environment and Conservation

This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.

innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Memory Self-Test via Smartphone

… Can Identify Early Signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Dedicated memory tests on smartphones enable the detection of “mild cognitive impairment”, a condition that may indicate Alzheimer’s disease, with high accuracy….

The Sound of the Perfect Coating

Fraunhofer IWS Transfers Laser-based Sound Analysis of Surfaces into Industrial Practice with “LAwave”. Sound waves can reveal surface properties. Parameters such as surface or coating quality of components can be…

Partners & Sponsors