New: Policy Booklet ‘High-end Climate Change in Europe’

Combining the force of over 150 researchers from leading scientific institutions across Europe, three major EU-funded projects, IMPRESSIONS, HELIX and RISES-AM-, have synthesized and bundled research knowledge on impacts and adaptation under high-end climate change for key policy sectors in a newly published policy booklet.

While the Paris Agreement aims at limiting global warming to well below 2°C, current global greenhouse gas emissions are on track to warm the climate by more than that target. To address the accompanying challenges and opportunities, societal transformation and innovative approaches in science and policy are required. IMPRESSIONS, HELIX and RISES-AM- assessed and described climate change impacts, vulnerability and possible adaptation interventions across a range of policy sectors, in order to help decision-makers apply such knowledge within integrated response strategies.

The booklet features research on impacts and adaptation relevant to a number of areas addressed by policy: food, freshwater, forestry, coastal protection, nature conservation, urban areas – with contributions of DRIFT’s Niki Frantzeskaki-, human health and foreign policy. The booklet also considers cross-cutting impacts, challenges and opportunities for transformational change as a response to multiple, interacting risks and describes the three projects presenting a new understanding of the implications and risks of exceeding 2°C, as well as the challenges and opportunities of adaptation to these changes and the extent to which risks can be reduced if warming is held as close as possible to 1.5°C.

It is vital that decision-makers have access to reliable scientific information on these uncertain scenarios of the future in order to adapt to such high-end climate change and to foster actions to avoid it. This new policy booklet describes state-of-the-art research findings and and an emerging understanding on issues related to high-end climate change – and implications and tools for policy and decision-making.

Read more about the booklet or download the booklet directly.