Towards a Climate Resilient European Union? Prospects and Limitations of a General EU Climate Adaption Law

Abstract

Unlike EU climate protection law, the law governing climate adaptation remains underdeveloped and so-far has not attracted similar scholarly attention. Given the unfolding climate crisis and global mitigation efforts falling short of meeting the temperature goal agreed upon in the Paris Agreement (pa) this article focuses on a fairly new subject of legal study: EU climate adaptation law. First, the article critically assesses the perceived need to address climate adaptation in a more general manner at the EU level beyond more specific subject areas, such as EU water law. It then maps the overarching framework for climate adaptation built upon the new central adaptation provision in Art. 5 EU-Climate Law and established environmental principles of EU primary law. Finally, the Article discusses strengths and weakness of this general framework.