European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry

Providing Knowledge, Assessments, Data, and Tools to Strengthen European Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Land Use and Forestry Policy

Context

Climate change is putting increasing pressure on European societies, ecosystems, and land use. Understanding where risks are greatest and how they may evolve is essential to developing effective adaptation strategies and preparing for future challenges.

The European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation (ETC CA) and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) is a consortium of 16 European organisations working in partnership with the European Environment Agency (EEA) for the period 2022–2026. The consortium supports the development and implementation of EU climate and environmental policies, particularly the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change and the European Green Deal.

ETC CA provides scientific knowledge, indicators, and integrated assessments of climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and natural hazard risks. It also supports the monitoring and evaluation of adaptation strategies and measures, harmonises climate-related data and information, and contributes to the development of Climate-ADAPT to enable evidence-based decision-making across Europe.

Objectives

The European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation (ETC CA) aims to support the European Environment Agency (EEA) in strengthening the knowledge base and evidence needed for the development, implementation, and evaluation of European policies on climate change adaptation and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF).

Specific objectives:

Develop and maintain climate change knowledge, data, and indicators across European sectors and regions.

Assess climate change impacts, vulnerabilities, and natural hazard risks affecting society and ecosystems.

Support the monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of climate change adaptation strategies, plans, and measures.

Improve the harmonisation, quality, and accessibility of climate- and LULUCF-related data and information.

Support implementation and further development of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change and related European Green Deal objectives.

Update and improve Climate-ADAPT, the European Climate Adaptation Platform, to facilitate knowledge sharing and evidence-based decision-making.

Strengthen the connection between scientific knowledge, policy development, and practical climate adaptation across Europe.

Highlights

During the 2022–2026 partnership, ETC CA has strengthened the European knowledge base on climate risks, adaptation, and LULUCF, translating scientific evidence and national reporting into information that supports European policy and decision-making.

Key highlights include:

Advancing European climate risk assessment: ETC CA expertise contributes to the evolving European climate-risk knowledge base. The first European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), published by the EEA in 2024, identified 36 major climate risks for Europe, while ETC CA published a reflection paper in 2025 to support the development of EUCRA-2.

Tracking progress on climate adaptation: ETC CA analysed national adaptation actions reported across Europe and subsequently assessed the characteristics, legal frameworks and governance conditions of adaptation policies in EEA member and cooperating countries. This work also feeds into EEA assessments of adaptation progress.

Putting just resilience on the agenda: the 2023 Just Resilience for Europe report developed a framework for making justice considerations more operational in climate adaptation and explored potential indicators for measuring progress.

Developing forward-looking climate-risk indicators: ETC CA developed guidance for assessing future exposure and vulnerability using socioeconomic scenarios, including an application to heat-stress risk. This work was extended in 2025 to future climate-related health risks in Europe.

Promoting Nature-based Solutions (NbS): several ETC CA studies investigated how NbS can be scaled up, the economic and social conditions enabling their implementation, and their potential to increase forest resilience to wildfires and pest outbreaks.

Connecting adaptation, land use, and mitigation: work on LULUCF identified land-management options that can increase climate-mitigation potential while creating synergies with adaptation and avoiding negative biodiversity impacts, alongside research on climate-change impacts on biomass production.

Supporting Climate-ADAPT and European knowledge sharing: throughout the partnership, ETC CA supports the EEA in maintaining and improving the European Climate Adaptation Platform and in making climate information, indicators, and assessments accessible for better-informed decision-making.

Overall, the ETC CA has helped bridge science, national reporting, and European policy, providing practical evidence on where climate risks are emerging, how adaptation is progressing, and which approaches can strengthen climate resilience across Europe.

Visit the Climate-ADAPT website