Cross-cutting mechanisms and actions | Umweltbundesamt

The draft APA III envisages with regard to data and information services that the KLiVO German Climate Preparedness Portal and the KlimAdapt system of adaptation services be continued and expanded. KlimAdapt is a module of KLiVO, which assembles, processes and provides products, services and assessments for the identification and implementation of adaptation actions and for the further development of the German Adaptation Strategy (DAS).

The DAS “Climate and water” open service will provide climatological, oceanographic and hydrological data and advisory inputs for the individual action areas of the German Adaptation Strategy. The service will give decision-makers and planners comprehensive, up-to-date, uniform and quality-assured data foundations  for  adaptation  actions  in  Germany.  A  projection  service  for  waterways  and  shipping (ProWaS) is in preparation as a pilot project that will form the first module of the open service. The German Adaptation Strategy also lists numerous research activities that will build the knowledge base on climate change and will advance climate modelling at various scales. These include publicly funded programmes on the economics of climate change and on climate resilience through urban and regional actions, which aim to build action-oriented knowledge about climate adaptation and mitigation.

In many instances, the climatic determinants in the specific fields stated above are still insufficiently researched. A particular need for further research remains in the analysis of the robustness of modelled extremes in terms of their modelability, characteristics and probabilities of occurrence. Among other activities, new research programmes funded by the German Research Ministry (BMBF), such as ClimXtreme and RegIKlim, will deliver initial results over the next years of relevance to the analysis of rare events and refined regional and global climate modelling.

A further action is “Local climate and environmental models for cities and regions of the future”, a pilot initiative comprised of several components. The first involves development of an urban climate model capable of capturing all relevant urban climate processes. Two further components will lay the groundwork for the next generation of climate information services and will compile and link data on a broad range of local environmental aspects.

Existing technical rules and standards need to take systematic account of climate change impacts. An action on climate-proofing existing rules and technical standards comprises specific departmental research, active involvement in relevant bodies, integration in statutory provisions, and consideration in federal government tendering procedures. Furthermore, the need for and practicability of steps to integrate climate change adaptation in technical laws is to be examined. This is important because the implementation of the DAS, particularly at municipal level, can be boosted if it is embedded within a statutory system with mandatory substantive focuses and procedural requirements. The first step is therefore to examine which technical laws are relevant and which regulatory contents should be taken up.

The permanent establishment of the federal authority climate adaptation network mandated by the Interministerial Working Group on Adaptation to Climate Change (IMAA) promotes DAS implementation. The BMVI expert network of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is a departmental research network of particular relevance to DAS implementation. Its purpose is to provide scientific findings of practical relevance to challenges cutting across all modes of transport, such as climate change, environmental protection and ageing infrastructure.

Various funding programmes aim to create a financial framework for adaptation actions. Under the European Union’s new multiannual financial framework for 2021–2027 an increased percentage of all financial resources is to be deployed for climate-relevant actions.

The Blue Compass award scheme, by which the Federal Environment Agency regularly showcases local and regional lighthouse projects for coping with climate change impacts, is to be continued on a permanent basis insofar as budgetary resources allow.

Furthermore, a system for analysis of the effectiveness of actions and mechanisms is to be established. This will improve the targeted selection of DAS actions and policy mechanisms, and will facilitate coordination among departmental strategies.