Project Description

The extreme floods of summer 2021 caused hundreds of deaths and billions of euros of damage across several European countries including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Yet this kind of weather event, which we currently call ‘extreme’, will likely become the ‘new normal’ within decades, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The message is therefore clear: we must prepare NOW for more frequent and larger flooding – as well as longer droughts, hotter summers and colder winters. These preparations should variously focus on risk management, community preparedness, emergency response, insurance markets, multi-level governance, and sustainable transformations, says a new joint initiative from the United Nations University (UNU).

In recognition of the cross-border effects of climate change, our institutes in Bruges (UNU-CRIS), Bonn (UNU-EHS), and Maastricht (UNU-MERIT) joined forces to launch the ‘UNU Climate Resilience Initiative’, ahead of a dedicated ‘Knowledge Summit 2022’. Working with partners across the main flood-affected countries in Europe, as well as other flood-prone areas of the world, this initiative aims to share knowledge, shape policy, and drive action – and ultimately shift the focus from passive vulnerability to pro-active adaptation, innovation and transformation. UNU is leading desk and field research, coupled with stakeholder consultations and fact-finding missions to develop a long-term research agenda, backed up by policy-focused output and various outreach activities, including a Flood Knowledge Summit in 2022.