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The ADAM project received research funding from the European Community's Framework 6 Programme. It started March 2006 and finished in July 2009, involving 120 researchers in 26 research institutions across Europe and worldwide.   

The content reflects the authors views only and the Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained within.



What was ADAM about?
ADAM supports the EU in the development of post-2012 global climate policies, the definition of European mitigation policies to reach its 2020 goals, and the emergence of new adaptation policies for Europe with special attention to the role of extreme weather events. 

The main impact of the ADAM project is to improve the quality and relevance of scientific and stakeholder contributions to the development and evaluation of climate change policy options within the European Commission. This wi...

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Can we limit climate change to 2°C?
To achieve the EU climate policy objective, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will have to be stabilized below 450ppm CO2-equivalent.  This implies global emissions will need to be reduced by about 50% below 1990 levels.  First model runs suggests that known technical measures have sufficient potential to deliver such an ambitious reduction.  Yet, critical questions on how to achieve this potential remain unanswered. 

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Mitigation options
Mitigation options

The mitigation options of Europe  until 2050

The European Union target of limiting the increase in global mean temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels within this century implies two main challenges: a substantial and continuous reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions (by about 70 to 80% or more of present emissions by the middle of this century) and a convincing foreign policy that strives for a maximum per capita emission of about 2 tonnes of carbon by 2050.  

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Mitigation policies
Mitigation policies

Mitigation policies: technological flexibility at moderate costs

How can the global energy system be transformed?  What are the possible mitigation pathways?  What are the associated costs?  These are some of the questions being addressed within the ADAM project.  The most remarkable early result is that stabilising global CO2 emissions can be achieved by different technological strategies at moderate costs.  We report on the comparison of five energy-environment-economy ...
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How much will extreme events cost?
Many European regions and sectors are vulnerable to natural hazards and there is growing evidence of rising economic losses in Europe associated with extreme weather events. ADAM research contributes to improved adaptation decisions by: (i) mapping asset risks to flooding and droughts in Europe for today’s and future climates (direct risks); and (ii) estimating economic vulnerabilities and risks for the public and different sectors in Europe (indirect risks).
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Adaptation as a learning process
Adaptation as a learning process

Adaptation as a learning process: implications for decision-making

Whilst much attention has been paid to the mitigation agenda in recent years, it is increasingly recognised that we also need to be planning to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that a changing climate will bring.  Bottom-up perspectives of adaptation processes and building of adaptive capacity are necessary to deliver adaptation ‘on the ground’.  This raises several challenges for policy-makers, such as integrat...
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European climate policies
European climate policies

What makes European climate policies effective?

How effective are European climate policies?  And why are some measures are more effective than others?  These were the questions guiding a meta-analysis of 262 climate policy evaluations at the European Union level and in six member states: Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Portugal.  The results indicate that precise design, interaction between different policy instruments and consequent monitoring are key to d...
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Collaborative policy-making
Collaborative policy-making

Collaborative policy-making  in EU energy policy to address climate change

This work investigates how stakeholder consultation processes influence the formation of energy policy in the European Union, analysing the formulation of the Energy Communication in 2007, whose explicit aim was to address climate change.  A number of shortcomings are identified in how participatory processes took place, shortcomings which can inhibit the emergence of novel solutions for climate change to emerge....
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Protecting climate refugees
Protecting climate refugees Climate change threatens to cause the largest refugee crisis in human history, potentially affecting more than 200 million people. Current institutions, organizations and funding mechanisms are not sufficiently equipped to deal with this emerging crisis. Our research indicates an urgent need for a restructuring of international institutions to meet this challenge.
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European development assistance
European development assistance

European development assistance and climate change

The ADAM project has been examining overlaps between European development assistance and climate change and has found significant room for policy improvement in several areas. First, efforts to “mainstream” climate change have so far been minimal and a great deal of further effort is needed. Second, in two case study regions, policies to improve environmental conditions and prepare for climate-related stresses on society have so far failed to g...
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European electricity sector
European electricity sector

Can the European electricity sector continue delivering emission reductions beyond 2020 and 2030?

The European electricity sector accounts for about 40 percent of emissions in a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, and provides 70 percent of the emission reductions by 2020. Political feasibility plays an important role when policies are chosen which suppress prices both for emissions and on electricity. Europe may consider addressing the resulting weaknesses, one of which is that low rates of technologi...
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The Tisza River Basin
The Tisza River Basin

The Tisza River Basin:  Adaptation to climate change in floodplain management

Water management in the Hungarian Tisza region offers an attractive case to study mainstreaming adaptation and mitigation.  Climate change is connected to the three main water- related problems of the Tisza region: floods, in-land water stagnation and droughts.  The new water management plan calls for rural development, water retention and the revitalisation of floodplains.  Implementation of the pla...
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(C) 2010 ADAM, Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting European climate policy