Costs of adaptation vs costs of inaction

The main objective of this report is to provide the EEA with scientific, theoretical and practical knowledge on two key concepts, namely adaptation costs and inaction costs, and how they influence adaptation finance in a domestic context. This report further elaborates on the types of risk, the ancillary impacts of adaptation, and how to integrate the knowledge in practical ways for European countries.

The report highlights that adaptation to climate change and the costs of inaction are key but vaguely defined concepts that permeate all policy decisions. A major problem is the lack of access to relevant information and understanding of key concepts such as adaptation finance, which makes it difficult to structure and evaluate adaptation strategies. These information gaps lead to problems in the evaluation and comparability of adaptation efforts at European level.