Today, the European Commission published its first EU Framework for Climate Resilience, opening the door to a more forward-looking, coordinated approach to preventing and preparing for climate impacts. The proposal introduces a common climate reference trajectory for global warming based on 3 °C by 2100, alongside a requirement to adopt national climate resilience plans and clearer responsibility for managing risks.
- This moment marks an important step towards moving Europe from reacting to climate disasters to coherently anticipating and reducing risks. Europe cannot build a competitive and secure economy on infrastructure that shuts down every summer. Climate resilience is not a green add-on to the EU’s priorities; it is the foundation they rest on.
- The proposal comes in the wake of a staggering 50,000 excess deaths across EU cities linked to extreme heat (1). Indeed, climate risks increasingly threaten Europe’s public wellbeing, security, and economic stability. The European Climate Risk Assessment identified 36 major risks in 2024, many already at critical levels, affecting everything from health, food and water to energy and infrastructure. As the EU looks to strengthen its competitiveness and strategic autonomy while negotiating its next long-term budget, preparing for climate impacts is a crucial enabler of the bloc’s priorities.
- By establishing a common basis for assessing risks and tabling a blueprint for embedding climate resilience across policymaking, sectors, and regions, the framework could help ensure that decisions on infrastructure, public investment and essential services are informed by a shared understanding of climate risk and fully take into account the stark reality of a changing climate. This is an important opportunity to reduce fragmentation across sectors and levels of government, identify accountable risk owners, and protect Europe’s long-term wellbeing and prosperity. The challenge ahead will be to ensure that this shared approach translates into tangible support for frontline communities and the places facing the greatest risks.
- The framework is a foundation for action, but its success will depend on what comes next. The European Parliament and Member States will soon debate the legislative pieces and in doing so have a unique opportunity to demonstrate ambition on an issue most Europeans now experience directly (2). The negotiations ahead are an opportunity to strengthen elements such as governance and implementation and mobilise the necessary resources to close the €70bn adaptation gap. The framework’s impact will also depend on how the European Commission itself embeds this new risk management approach across policymaking, monitoring and funding decisions.
Quotes
Manon Dufour, Executive Director, E3G Brussels, said:
“With this framework and the European Climate Resilience Law, the Commission is laying the foundations for Europe to plan for the climate to come. It is simple on paper but potentially transformational: for the first time, every member state would be expected to understand, own and plan for its climate risks. Its success will depend on whether decisionmakers across all levels of government and in every sector take that responsibility seriously.”
Sandra Tzvetkova, Senior Policy Advisor – EU Politics, said:
“The European Commission has taken an important step towards putting climate resilience at the heart of Europe’s decision-making. A common basis for understanding risks, and the requirement to ensure someone is responsible for those risks, are essential building blocks. The next task will be to strengthen these foundations in the negotiations ahead, so that Europe’s first climate resilience framework translates into more than just words.”
Laura Iozzelli, Policy Advisor – EU Sustainable Finance, said:
“Finance is where the framework will be won or lost. With no new money on the table, the priority for the EU is to make sure every euro invested is climate-proof and investors and insurers are given the risk information they need to keep backing resilience rather than retreat from risk. The common reference scenario can do that, but only if it reaches financial decisionmakers too.”
Jurei Yada, Associate Director, Finance and Resilience, said:
“Europe is already paying for climate change. The choice is whether to invest upfront in resilience or pay far more in damages later. Closing the €70bn adaptation investment gap will be the real test of this framework, and the negotiations ahead are the moment to start.”
Available for comment
Manon Dufour, Executive Director, E3G Brussels, EN/FR manon.dufour@e3g.org
Sandra Tzvetkova, Senior Policy Advisor – EU Politics, EN/BG sandra.tzetkova@e3g.org
Laura Iozzelli, Policy Advisor – EU Sustainable Finance, EN/IT laura.iozzelli@e3g.org
For further enquiries email press@e3g.org or phone +44 (0)7783 787 863
Notes
References in story:
- (1) The Guardian, “Heat killed ‘staggering’ 50,000 people in Europe’s cities this summer, scientists warn,” October 23, 2026, theguardian.com.
- (2) EEA, “Overheated and underprepared,” February 4, 2026, eea.europa.eu
