Climate change and climate extremes are one of the most serious challenges facing the world today. Taking action to deal with it is a top priority for the European Union. The EU is committed to global efforts to fight climate change and strengthen societies’ ability to cope with its negative impacts including climate extremes. The EU is world leader in terms of climate action and in providing support to climate change adaptation. In total, 40% of the world’s public climate finance comes from the EU.

This commitment is reflected by the EU’s support to the Paris Climate agreement ratified on 5 October 2016. In March 2020, the political agreement has been turned into a legal obligation with the European Climate Law , as part of the so-called “ Green Deal ”. By increasing and binding legally its climate ambition the EU is strengthening its role as leader of the green transition and enhancing its credibility among partner countries and internationally.

In the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) of the European Commission, a regulation fixes a of 30% of NDICI-Global Europe funds to contribute to climate objectives. In monetary terms, this means committing about EUR 27.8 billion in support of climate objectives for the period 2021-2027.

The Farm to Fork strategy , which is part of the Green Deal, mentions that food research and innovation, with particular reference to climate change adaptation and mitigation, will be one focus area of the EU international cooperation.

African countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change as it risks jeopardising ongoing progress on sustainable development. This is one of the key challenges that is addressed in the Joint Communication “ Toward a comprehensive strategy with Africa ”. The strategy stresses that to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals , the EU and Africa alike need to opt for a low-carbon, resource efficient and climate-resilient future in line with the Paris Agreement. The EU and Africa are allies in working towards healthy ecosystems, limiting and halting global warming, reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing opportunities for people and ecosystems to adapt. This requires stepping up efforts on climate change mitigation and resilience as well as taking adequate adaptation measures in a socially sustainable way.

With this ambition, the EU has adopted in 2021 its new Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. The strategy announces that the EU will promote sub-national, national and regional approaches to adaptation, with a specific focus on adaptation in Africa and Small Island Developing States. The support for international climate resilience and preparedness will be stepped up through the provision of resources, by prioritizing action and increasing effectiveness, through the scaling up of international finance and through stronger global engagement and exchanges on adaptation.

These new strategies reinforce EU priorities in international cooperation. As stated in the New European Consensus on Development , The EU and its Member States will provide strong support for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. They recognise the need to increase work on, and funding for, adaptation to climate change and limitation of global warming, including through their external and development cooperation policies. The greenhouse gas mitigation potential of sustainable agriculture and soils must be harnessed, while resilience to climate change impacts should be enhanced.

Because climate change and environmental degradation pose increasing risks to international peace and security, the EU adopted in June 2023 this Joint Communication on “a new outlook on the climate and security nexus”, with the objective in particular, to operationalise the climate and security nexus in EU.

The new partnership agreement between the EU and ACP –“Samoa Agreement”- has among its objectives to combat climate change, protect the environment and ensure the sustainable management of natural resources (Article 1). It foresees in particular to promote actions on adaptation to climate change and variability throughout the food production value chains.

The EU has adopted geographic and thematic programmes for the period 2021-2027 to support the transition toward sustainable and low-carbon food systems more resilient to climate change and weather extremes.

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