AUTHORS: Mattia Bonfanti, Melanie Muro and Evelyn Underwood (IEEP) with contributions from Justin Zahra (Environmental Defense Fund) and Luc Bas (Climate Risk Assessment Center)
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) has organised 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. This event was 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 Group. The following briefing highlights the main takeaways discussed during the discussions and the two thematic sessions on “Closing the Gaps: Strengthening Policies, Financing, and Business Integration for Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Deployment” and on “Coordinating and aligning public and private finance for the transition to sustainable and resilient agriculture”.
The whole debate was informed by the keynote speech of Leena Ylä-Mononen, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, on EUCRA relevance for private sector businesses, as well as by the intervention of Luc Bas, Director of the Climate Risk Assessment Center of Belgium (CERAC) & Chair of IEEP Strategic Advisory Council, concerning the national implementation effort in Belgium following the EUCRA report.
