Climate risk country profile: Croatia

This climate risk profile is intended to serve as a public good to facilitate upstream country diagnostics, policy dialogue, and strategic planning by providing comprehensive overviews of trends and projected changes in key climate parameters, sector-specific implications, relevant policies and programs, adaptation priorities and opportunities for further actions. The Republic of Croatia belongs to the Adriatic-Mediterranean and Pannonia-Danube group of countries in Central Europe. The country has a population of nearly 4.1 million people (2019), with an annual growth rate of −0.5% (2019). Croatia submitted its Seventh National Communication (NC7) and Third Biennial Report of The Republic of Croatia Under the UNFCCC in 2018. The country’s adaptation priorities include availability and accessibility of water for drinking and irrigation uses, coast and coastal zones, forestry and land use change, agriculture, biodiversity, and human health. Croatia, and neighboring southeast European sub-region, are at risk to natural disasters, which primarily affect the region’s agricultural, water and energy sectors, through seasonal flooding, aridity, and periods of drought. 

This climate risk profile provdes a number of key messages on the climate risks faced by Croatia, including: 

• Croatia is expected to become hotter and drier, especially in the summer. Climate change trends are projected to increase temperatures and decrease water availability across Croatia over this century.
• Future precipitation trends for the country are projected to decline steadily over the century, (eastern areas may experience increased rainfall), however these negative trends are primarily recognized in the summer months in the mountain regions as well as in the Adriatic areas.
• Flooding, including coastal and riverine, are particular hazards for Croatia and damaging and potentially life-threatening river floods are expected to occur at least once in the next 10 years.