A review of adaptation practice in

Europe: Challenges ahead

Ángel Aparicio Technical University of Madrid

European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation

(ETC/CCA)

European Environment Agency

1. The Context: ETC/CCA

• ETC/CCA

– European Topic Centre on Climate Change impacts, vulnerability

and Adaptation

• A consortium of European research centres

– Selected through a public call of the European Environment Agency

(EEA)

• Annual implementation programmes approved by EEA:

– 2013 and 2014: reports on transport adaptation

– 2015: screening inspiring case studies for the database platform

CLIMATE-ADAPT

http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/

Research and studies

• EU FP7 projects

– EWENT, WEATHER, ECCONET

– MOWE-IT

– TOPDAD, BASE, ENHANCE…

• National research projects

– UK: TRACCA (rail)

– DE: KLIWAS (waterborne transport)

CLIMATE

MODELS

TRANSPORT

DISRUPTION

ADAPTIVE

ACTIONS

REVIEWING TRANSPORT ADAPTATION PRACTICE

REVIEWING TRANSPORT ADAPTATION PRACTICE

Vulnerability assessment

• Pilots based on risk assessment concepts

Vulnerability = Probability of Occurrence x Impact

– France: Nice airport

– Denmark: Copenhagen airport

– Scotland: Scottish road network

• Developing new assessment tools

– Norway: xGEO (roads)

– Denmark, Sweden…: Blue spot concept (roads)

– Austrian: ÖBB database on rail disruption events

REVIEWING TRANSPORT ADAPTATION PRACTICE

Revision of maintenance and design guidelines

• Identification of priorities:

– UK: Railway drainage standards

– DK: Copenhagen metro

• Comprehensive revision

– European Commission mandate on revision of standards (2014)

– FR: Comprehensive revision of transport infrastructure standards

REVIEWING TRANSPORT ADAPTATION PRACTICE

• Contingency plans and revision of operational practices

• Tailored weather information

• Quick recovery vs. major infrastructure investments

REVIEWING TRANSPORT ADAPTATION PRACTICE

Long-term analysis and scenario building

• Limited consideration of adaptation within long-term planning

– TEN-T: adaptation should be included within “working plans” for 9

TEN-T priority corridors

– FR: On-going study on long-term changes in urban mobility patterns

– DHL: Exploring resilience of future logistics chains

WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED THUS FAR?

• Quick reaction of the transport sector to the adaptation challenge

– Although almost limited to infrastructure

– … and focusing on current (and not future) operational conditions

• Pragmatic approach, providing quick answers to urgent concerns

– Mobilizing “in-house” know-how.

– Focusing on hot-spots

• Knowledge on transport adaptation is quickly expanding

– Climate information too general: transport impacts difficult to identify.

– Studies based on current transport systems: low-carbon transitions not considered

WHAT WOULD BE NEEDED IN FUTURE?

• Coupling mitigation and adaptation studies and action

– How resilient will future low-carbon transport systems be?

– And how consistent/resilient are transition paths to low-carbon mobility?

– … and focusing on current (and not future) operational conditions

• Integrating adaptation in long-term transport planning

– TEN-T as a key opportunity to develop appropriate adaptation assessment tools

– Research needed on appropriate assessment methods and tools

• Strengthening collaborative planning practices

– Adaptation is closely related to operators’ and users’ needs, flexibility and experience

– Expanding focus from modal infrastructure to (multimodal) transport services

THE NEED FOR A POLICY DEBATE

Integrating the transition challenge Asssessing adaptation options

“A”

OPTION

“M”

OPTION

“A + M”

OPTION

CURRENT

TRANSPORT

SYSTEM

MITIGATION

AD

AP

TA

TIO

N

“S”

OPTION

“E”

OPTION

BALANCED

OPTION

CURRENT

TRANSPORT

SYSTEM

ENGINEERING RESILIENCE

SY

ST

EM

RE

SIL

IEN

CE

BASED ON A SOUND RESEARCH AGENDA?

IMPROVING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE:

Further development of transport-tailored climate forecasts

DEVELOPING STRONGER ASSESSMENT TOOLS:

Including compatibility with low-carbon transitions

Including demand management and flexibility

ADAPTATION WITHIN LONG-TERM PLANNING

Joint approach to mitigation and adaptation

Build upon current practice: TEN-T and national transport plans

MOVING FORWARD TOWARDS COLLABORATIVE PLANNING

Adaptation as an opportunity to collaborative governance

…and to stakeholder involvement

FURTHER INFORMATION

ETC/CCA TECHNICAL PAPER 03/2013

http://cca.eionet.europa.eu/reports

CLIMATE ADAPT PLATFORM

http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/

EEA REPORT 8/2014

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/adaptation-

of-transport-to-climate