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Adaptation Strategies

Overshoot: Navigating the challenges of exceeding global warming limits

The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C has become a cornerstone of international climate policy. However, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change intensify, surpassing this threshold is looking increasingly likely, if not inevitable. This scenario raises urgent questions about the risks involved, the feasibility of returning to safer temperature levels, and the social and economic trade-offs associated with such pathways. New tools and research, such as CMCC’s overshoot platform based on the work of an international team of scientists and design experts, can help answer these questions.

Risk-resilience-Igor-Linkov

From risk to resilience

Resilience has shifted from being a matter of choice to an imperative. From climate disasters to failing infrastructure, the ability to withstand and recover from shocks is now at the heart of decision-making. Yet, despite its critical importance, there is still no universal definition for resilience and its relationship with risk. Dr Igor Linkov, a distinguished expert in risk prevention and management, walks us through methods for resilience quantification and how these can help transform fragmented approaches to risk management into coordinated strategies.

Rising seas, rising challenges: Informing the future directions of coastal resilience

Sea-level rise will continue to threaten ecosystems and communities in the coming decades. However, the extent and magnitude of this threat is still an open question that researchers are intent on investigating in an effort to provide decision-makers with accurate and timely information. Giulia Galluccio, CMCC director of ATEC, vice-chair of JPI Climate and co-lead author of two chapters of the 1st European Assessment Report on Sea Level Rise, and CMCC researcher Elisa Fiorini Beckhauser walk us through the report, its significance and implications.

How climate change is reshaping the insurance landscape

The rising threats posed by extreme weather and climate events are challenging the way insurers approach at-risk areas. From wildfires in California, USA, to flooding in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, coordinated efforts are needed to create innovative insurance solutions. “The future of insurance will depend on solutions that do more than just compensate for damage – they must actively help reduce exposure to risk,” says CMCC researcher Guido Rianna.

baku at sunset

Back from the enabling COP: Negotiators analyze outcomes from Baku

Climate finance was front and center, while a leading actor was relegated to a sideline role. In a CMCC webinar, negotiators returning from Baku take stock of key aspects of COP29, such as the complex context of the negotiations, decisions on the New Collective Quantified Goal, the Baku-to-Belem roadmap, news on the carbon market, global cooperation, and adaptation. Throughout, it emerges that bridging scientific insights with policy is more essential than ever to transform commitments into meaningful climate action.

COP29 Spotlight | Agriculture, forestry, and other land use

At COP29 the critical role of agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) as both a catalyst and a provider of potential solutions to rising emissions is of significant importance. “COP29 must lay the groundwork for COP30 by prioritizing sustainable land-use strategies and ensuring stronger commitments to reducing emissions from land use,” says CMCC researcher and member of the Italian delegation to COP29 Matteo Bellotta.

a giraffe in Nairobi National Park Gate, Nairobi, Kenya

COP29 Spotlight | The critical role of National Adaptation Plans for Least Developed Countries

As the world’s leaders, scientists, and policy experts gather for COP29 in Baku, discussions around National Adaptation Plans for the most vulnerable nations, particularly least developed countries, are poised to take center stage. With climate change disproportionately impacting these regions, scientific insight from CMCC researcher Caterina Guidi highlights that adaptation is not just a policy goal but an urgent necessity for survival and sustainable development.

biodiversity

Halting biodiversity loss: More than just an environmental imperative

Climate change and biodiversity loss are intertwined crises with common causes and effects. Research, science-based tools, and collaboration are taking center stage as national and international efforts to understand, monitor and promote biodiversity ramp up. From the ongoing COP16 on Biological Diversity to the National Biodiversity Future Centre, Italy’s first National Research and Innovation Center dedicated to biodiversity, getting accurate knowledge and data to decision makers and stakeholders is key.

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Are extreme events in the Mediterranean the new normal?

2024 saw yet another Mediterranean summer characterized by extreme climate and weather events. From waterspouts and wildfires to heatwaves, cyclones and floods, researchers are investigating the causes of these changes, how to better predict them, and what we need to adapt to the changes that they bring.

flooding-extreme-event

Those that lose out: Paying for the biggest cost of climate change

Climate change induced extreme weather events are on the rise, exacerbating inequalities both between and within countries on all continents. From hurricanes to heatwaves, extreme events impose costs that are not borne equally and that weigh more heavily on the poorest. “We are increasingly seeing that differing capacities for adapting to climate change are not just a matter that concerns high- and low-income countries but also the social differences within wealthy ones,” says CMCC researcher Giacomo Nicolini.

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Fanning the flames of wildfire resilience

The frequency and intensity of wildfire events is on the rise due to a combination of climate and land use changes. However, the dominant approach to wildfire management, namely direct reaction and response, is starting to prove both ineffective and in some ways even contributing to megafire events. With researchers increasingly focusing on prevention and preparedness there are new solutions to creating resilient firewise communities. 

What is the state of the European climate?

What does it mean to be the world’s fastest warming continent toppling flooding, temperature and wildfire records as glaciers melt at unprecedented rates and communities suffer like never before? Understanding the latest trends in Europe’s climate, including progress in areas such as renewable energy generation and resilience to extreme events, is the key to effective adaptation and mitigation.