Optionen zur Weiterentwicklung von Anpassungsstrategien

This November, the latest climate report for Germany, titled "Climate Change in Germany: Development, Consequences, Risks and Perspectives", was published. For the first time, climate change in Germany has been assessed from an interdisciplinary and comprehensive perspective, taking all societal issues and sectors into account. The 126 authors covered issues such as already-observed and prospective changes, weather calamities and their consequences, risks for the future and options for the advancement of adaptation strategies. Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute is co-author of the report's chapter on story line options for a transformative climate adaptive society in Germany. The climate report is available for download.

Published at Springer Press, the climate report is available as an open-access publication, and an enhanced e-book version is in preparation. The report is expected to serve as a basis for decision making in the context of climate change in Germany. With this climate report, Germany joins the list of countries – among them the United States, Austria and Great Britain – for which such documentation exists.

The authors offer an assessment of the current state of climate change in Germany in comprehensible language. The report utilizes graphs and charts and including a half-page summary at the beginning of each chapter. A part of the publication addresses dealing with risks while another part elaborates on adaptation policies and transformative aspects on the road to an adaptive German society. In chapter 33, titled "Opportunities for Further Development of Adaptation Strategies", the authors Petra Mahrenholz, Jörg Knieling, Andrea Knieriem, Grit Martinez, Heike Molitor and Sonja Schlipf conclude that adaptation can especially be part of sustainable development if it is combined with social innovation, which often includes behavioral changes. Although the governance of climate adaptation requires using economic and legal instruments, informal instruments such as information and participation crucially contribute to problem awareness, creative solutions and value changes. This implies that communication is based on storyline contexts and the concrete lived-in world of stakeholders as well as on their cultural values and local knowledge.