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Adaptation
European Climate Change Programme II
Stakeholder Meeting
24 October 2005, Brussels
Adaptation Working Group Session
Jan Kowalzig
Climate Change Campaign
Friends of the Earth Europe
www.foeeurope.org/climate
The next 10 minutes
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What: adaptation
Adaptation vs mitigation
Adaptation & environmental justice
Adaptation & development co-operation
What: adaptation
„ [...] adjustments in ecological, social or
economic systems in response to actual
or expected climatic stimuli and their
effects or impacts [...] “
IPPC TAR, 2001
What: adaptation
Conclusion: „adaptation“ in the context
of the ECCP must also deal with the
climate impacts we will not be able to
avoid through reducing vulnerability and
increasing resilience. The ToR of the
ECCP adaptation working group
should explicitly mention this need.
Adaptation vs Mitigation
Adaptation vs Mitigation
The more governments fail to agree and
implement effective mitigation strategies,
the higher will be the economic and social
burden Europeans will have to shoulder
for adaptation and damage restoration.
Adaptation vs Mitigation
Conclusion: adaptation needs must be
communicated to the public as a consequence of failed mitigation efforts, thus
increasing public support for the latter.
The ToR of the adaptation working group
should include the request to work on
such communication strategies.
Adaptation &
Environmental Justice
Adaptation &
Environmental Justice
It‘s the less wealthy who:
• live near noisy streets
• inhabit badly insulated houses
• buy low-quality food and products
Climate change & the need to adapt
may exacerbate the situation.
Adaptation &
Environmental Justice
• Risk of flooding will decrease property
prices. Who is to blame? Who will
compensate?
• Increased insurance premiums will affect
the less wealthy more than others
• Costs of adaptation (e.g. more
resilient housing): who will pay?
Adaptation &
Environmental Justice
Adaptation under the ECCP II must avoid
disproportional burdens for the less
wealthy, both with regard to adaptation
policies as well as climate impacts.
Policies should have Polluter-PaysPrinciple as a basis.
Adaptation &
Environmental Justice
Conclusion: The adaptation working
group under the ECCP review must
develop answers around the question
who will pay for adaptation and how to
integrate the Polluter-Pays-Principle (e.g.
financing adaptation through taxation
on fossil energies).
Adaptation &
Development Co-operation
Adaptation &
Development Co-operation
Adaptation must recognise the historic
responsibility for causing the problem.
• Use Polluter (of the past) Pays Principle;
• Provide resources for adaptation as much
as the EU is responsible for the crisis;
• Consider this not as charity or aid.
Adaptation &
Development Co-operation
Conclusion: The ECCP must come up
with a response to the issue of historic &
present responsibility for creating
adaptation needs in developing countries,
including the issue of compensation for
climate change impacts. This should be
made explicit in the ToR of the
adaptation working group.
Summary
• Mitigation is the best „adaptation strategy“!
• Integrate damage restoration & relief
(=live with the level of climate change we
cannot avoid)
• Address social implications: who will pay?
• Acknowledge historical responsibility
towards the developing world