Managing climate risk for a safer future: a new resilience agenda for Europe

This paper sets out a new political agenda for resilience to be adopted by the new European Commissioners in 2019. As the 2019 European Parliament elections loom and a new European Commission takes office, climate action can become a key driver of a reformed European project for more solidarity, protection and innovation. Climate change and the risks it brings are not confined to any one economic sector, social group, or environmental context. It is all encompassing and so must be the EU’s response – from adopting a new framework to managing climate risk and its uncertainty to delivering solutions that build resilience in the economy to any warming scenarios in a socially sustainable way. Fundamentally, this is about redefining the social contract between citizens and institutions in a climate changed world. 

No aspect of our lives as Europeans will be untouched. This system approach is a direct response to the rise of new nationalistic politics emerging in several EU democracies. Under increasing pressure, democratic societies are fracturing into segments based on ever-narrower defined interests, threatening the possibility of evidence-based deliberation and collective action by society as a whole. Climate change represents an opportunity to bring people together as a collective citizenry and work together for a common goal. Climate action needs strong European institutions as much as Europe needs strong climate action to be safe. Climate action should contribute to improving the trust Europeans have in their institutions to deliver security and prosperity. By effectively engaging its citizens in a shared missionoriented transformation for their own well-being, next EU Commission can strengthen the core mission of the European project of securing peace and prosperity for all.