Climate change adaptation and standards in the European transport sector

Introduction and Background

Adaptation is a dynamic process and requires multiple iterations, either in response to new or improved information (e.g. better climate modelling, improved decision-making frameworks) or as the result of learning from other regions or partners elsewhere in Europe and beyond. The European Commission is currently in the process of developing an EU Adaptation Strategy with the general aim to enhance the preparedness and capacity to respond to the impacts of climatic change of the EU, its Member States and regions, down to the local level. Stakeholder consultation will be a key element in order to support a strategic approach to the national implementation of climate change adaptation actions and to facilitate the exchange between the Member States.

The development of the EU Adaptation Strategy and the accompanying IA were supported by the DG CLIMA project “Support to the development of the EU-Strategy for adaptation to climate change (CLlMA.C.3/SER/2011/0026)”. This project was carried out by the Environment Agency Austria (EAA) together with Fresh Thoughts Consulting (FT), AEA Technology plc (AEA), Alterra, and FEEM Servizi Srl (FEEM).

The members of European transport and standardisation organisations and associations, such as CEN/CENELEC, The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European Union Road Federation (ERF), Inland Navigation Europe (INE), European Dredging Association (EuDA) and others were approached by the team in cooperation with relevant DGs of the European Commission in order to gain support to the strategy development work by sharing information on on-going developments of adaptation in the transportation sector, insights of the practitioners and suggestions for EU level action. The specific aspect of interest was: if and how standardisation in the transport sector can be a useful tool for enhancing the climate change resilience of the European transport network. Further, any suggestions for policy interventions at EU or Member State level to support adaptation activities in the transport sector were welcome.

Aims of the Workshop

The overall objective of this workshop was to mobilise the knowledge and experience of public and private actors in the transportation sector about employing industry standards for adaptation to climate change purposes.

The particular focus was to:

• Share information on on-going developments and research in adaptation to climate change in the transport sector;
• Collect expert/stakeholder insights and views on whether and how standards can be seen as useful instruments for adaptation in the transport sector on local, national and EU levels;
• Identify concrete examples of standards being applied for adaptation purposes.
• Identify the impacts of adapting (identified) standards to address the consequences of future climate change on infrastructure.