How can adaptation and resilience to the climate emergency be integrated into economic planning? On Tuesday 23 April, Stephen O’Driscoll, Head of Environment, Climate and Social Policy at the European Investment Bank (EIB), outlined elements of the Bank’s action plan at a conference organised in Brussels by the Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FRDO-CFDD) and the European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils Network (EEAC Network) as part of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union.
The two-day event, held on Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 April, brings together European players involved in the fight against climate change to examine the implementation of adaptation strategies within the EU and to discuss the various national approaches to climate resilience. Mr O’Driscoll took the opportunity to present the EIB’s efforts to integrate adaptation to climate change into its financing.
In particular, the head of environmental policy at the European Investment Bank explained the importance of financial commitments to projects with a high potential for reducing climate impact, such as coastal protection and improving existing infrastructure to better withstand extreme weather conditions.
Mr O’Driscoll also looked at innovations in financing adaptation, such as the development of early warning systems and investment in drought-resistant crops, before identifying the specific problems associated with adaptation.
In this way, he emphasised the need to support the most vulnerable communities internationally, particularly in Africa.
The EIB is also focusing on adapting urban and energy infrastructures. Mr O’Driscoll therefore stressed the need to update building codes, i.e. the requirements for the design and construction of residential and commercial buildings, as well as the modernisation of existing infrastructures. On this point, however, he acknowledged that the limited fiscal capacity of cities and regions in the face of competing demands for resources represented a major obstacle.
Finally, Mr O’Driscoll said that the EIB had strengthened its climate risk assessment tools in partnership with Copernicus, the European observatory with a special interest in the state of the planet, in order to guide its clients in making their projects climate resilient through a detailed repository of information.
As Mr O’Driscoll pointed out, this approach demonstrates that climate data can transform the planning and implementation of infrastructure projects.
The conference served as a preliminary springboard for the EIB’s Adaptation Days, devoted to strategies for financing adaptation, to be held on 24 and 25 April in Luxembourg. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)