Germany: Strategy for adaptation to climate change
The long-term objective of the German Adaptation Strategy is to reduce the vulnerability of natural, social and economic systems and to maintain and improve their capacity to adapt to the inevitable impacts of global climate change.
To this end it is necessary to:
- Identify and define possible long-term climate impacts for Germany and its regions,
- Identify and communicate dangers and risks (→ Glossary), i.e. to quantify and make transparent as far as possible the probability, damage potential and uncertainty factors of climate change and their time component,
- Create and raise awareness of stakeholders,
- Provide a basis for decision making that enables the various stakeholders to take precautions and to gradually incorporate the impacts of climate change in their private, business and public planning and activities,
- Indicate action options, coordinate and define responsibilities, draw up and implement measures.
The Federal Government sees the German Adaptation Strategy as a medium-term process which will progressively ascertain action needs and develop and implement adaptation measures in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders. As the next important step in this process, the Federal Government will submit by spring 2011 an action plan for adaptation to climate change which will give concrete shape to the implementation of this strategy.