Rationales for adaptation in EU climate change policies

This paper sets out a series of rationales for public policy related to adaptation to the impacts of climatic change in the EU. It begins by arguing that that both mitigation and adaptation are necessary parts of a coordinated policy response to the problem of climatic change. However, the ‘problem structure’ of adaptation is significantly different to that of mitigation. For instance, adaptation may generate private benefits that are likely to be experienced over the short term, relative to benefits associated with the impacts of mitigation actions on global climate which are public and experienced over the longer term. This divergence influences public policy rationales for adaptation and poses challenges for the integration of mitigation and adaptation in climate policies. Five key challenges facing climate adaptation are identified, and these are used as a basis for proposing rationales for policy action on climate adaptation. These relate to: information provision and research; early warning and disaster relief; facilitating adaptation options; regulating the distributional impacts of adaptation; and regulating infrastructures. The paper concludes by arguing that a more significant policy integration problem for adaptation policy relates to how it is embedded in other sectoral policies such as agriculture and transport, rather than how to achieve integration with mitigation policies. Revised paper submitted for publication in Climate Policy, 2005. Special Issue: ‘Climate Policy Options Post-2012: European Strategy, technology and adaptation after Kyoto’, Volume 5, No. 3.