'Leaving no one behind’ in climate resilience policy and practice in Europe

This paper examines how climate change impacts affect people in different ways, with some members of society finding it more demanding to adapt to changing climate conditions. Managing climate change adaptation and transition to a climate-resilient society in a just and inclusive manner requires an awareness about which conditions could generate injustice, with unequal distribution of the burdens of climate impacts. The costs and benefits from adaptation measures need to be distributed in a fair and equitable way.

The paper provides an overview of knowledge and practice for just resilience in Europe. It reviews scientific literature on social impacts of adaptation and resilience, information from National Reference Centres, input from the Expert Group on Just Resilience (established for this analysis), information from regulatory reports on national adaptation progress, and a screening of the Climate-ADAPT database. The paper concludes by noting barriers and enabling conditions for just resilience, actionable recommendations for policy-makers, adaptation planners and practitioners, and identifies a number of knowledge gaps and directions for future research.