Croatian Parliament adopts Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

The Croatian Parliament has adopted the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the period until 2040 with a view to 2070.

The Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is the first strategic document of the Croatian government to provide an assessment of climate change for Croatia by the end of 2040 and 2070, possible impacts and vulnerability assessments, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy said.

Croatia was one of the three remaining EU countries without a climate change strategy.

The next activity is the development of the first action plan, which will have to be in line with the European Green Deal

The next step in the process is preparation of an operational action plan for the first five-year period. The measures and activities included in the plan will have to be in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal.

The objective of the strategy is to raise awareness on the importance and threats of climate change for the society, and the need to integrate the concept of climate change adaptation into existing and new policies, in order to reduce the environmental, economic and social vulnerability, the authors said. In addition, they noted, the aim is to encourage scientific research with the aim to better understand the complexity of climate change impacts and reduce the uncertainty of their effects.

The strategy includes climate projections in Croatia, taking into account the following climate parameters: precipitation, snow cover, surface runoff, air temperature, extreme weather conditions, wind, evapotranspiration, air humidity, soil humidity, solar radiation and average sea level.

The strategy also highlights the vulnerability of eight key sectors to climate change

The strategy also demonstrates vulnerability of sectors to climate change, including eight key sectors (water resources, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, biodiversity, energy, tourism and health) and two cross-cutting thematic areas (spatial planning and risk management).

A total of 83 climate change adaptation measures are defined for all the sectors. The measures are divided into five groups, and each group is provided with the cost estimation and sources of funding.