With the recent publication of the European climate risk assessment, the European Environment Agency (EEA)  recalled the major risks that climate change (and unsustainable land use and water management) represents, and the necessity to increase the resilience of ecosystems, societies, and economic sectors. The assessment warns that several climate risks have already reached critical levels. If decisive action is not taken now, most climate risks identified could reach critical or catastrophic levels by the end of this century.

Following the report, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is organising an exclusive conference on 19 February in Brussels dedicated to  businesses to discuss the main risks and strategies addressing climate risks, with a specific focus on cities and food production.

Cities and regions are increasingly developing climate resilience strategies with which the private sector will need to align. The first session will focus on the potential of nature-based solutions to decrease the vulnerability of water management systems to climate events such as heavy rainfall; the opportunities for businesses and private investment to scale up nature-based solutions; and the bottlenecks they face.

In the second session, panellists and attendees will address the following questions: How can existing public funds be optimised to better support the transition to sustainable and resilient EU agriculture? What role can/should the private sector play in financing the transition?  What policy frameworks, instruments and coordination arrangements are needed to more effectively align and integrate public and private funding streams?

This is an invitation-only event with a dedicated focus on the private sector. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact events@ieep.eu. You can view the agenda here.

This event organised by IEEP with the participation of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Climate Risk Assessment Centre (CERAC) Belgium, the support of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the contribution of Sweco.

Image by Intricate Explorer on Unsplash