Europe is facing a growing climate-driven threat landscape marked by record-breaking temperatures, severe floods, prolonged droughts and increasingly destructive wildfires

In response, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has published three new climate resilience products aimed at strengthening the ability of decision-makers, communities and citizens to understand, anticipate and respond to escalating climate risks.

The new releases come at a time when Europe is warming at twice the global average rate since the 1980s, with climate and weather extremes placing a significant burden on societies and economies. According to EEA data, the European Union has recorded approximately €822 billion in total economic losses between 1980 and 2024 due to extreme weather and climate-related events. Alarmingly, around 25% of these losses occurred between 2021 and 2024, indicating a sharp intensification of impacts. These events have also resulted in more than 441,000 fatalities across the region.

Despite ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the EEA warns that climate impacts will continue to intensify in the coming decades. This reinforces the urgent need for both climate mitigation and adaptation measures to protect people, infrastructure and economic systems.

Central to the new publications is the EEA report, Climate resilience in Europe, 2025 — progress and challenges, which provides a comprehensive assessment of national adaptation policies and actions across 32 EEA member countries. Based on the latest reporting under the EU Governance Regulation, the report finds that while all member countries now have national adaptation policies in place, significant gaps remain between policy design and practical implementation.

The assessment highlights uneven progress in monitoring and evaluating adaptation effectiveness, with many countries lacking robust data systems to determine whether risk reduction measures are working. It also notes that coordination challenges across governance levels, unclear risk ownership and variable institutional capacity continue to hinder policy coherence, particularly at regional and local levels. Social vulnerability and equity considerations are also not yet systematically integrated into national adaptation planning.

Looking ahead, the report identifies heatwaves and rising temperatures as the most significant future hazards across all countries, followed closely by floods and droughts. It calls for a more integrated adaptation policy cycle that better connects risk identification, anticipatory action, monitoring and shared learning, alongside stronger legal and institutional frameworks at EU level.

Complementing the report, the EEA briefing Small but mighty — climate resilience in Europe’s small municipalities examines climate adaptation efforts in smaller communities, which are home to over 40% of the EU population. While many small municipalities are already taking action on climate risks, only 16% have formal adaptation plans compared to 28% of larger cities. Key barriers include limited resources, restricted access to technical expertise and unclear governance responsibilities.

The EEA has also launched a new interactive platform consolidating its evidence base on extreme weather events, including heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires. The platform provides data, projections and case studies to support resilience planning at national, regional and local levels. It reinforces the scale of the challenge, noting that climate-related extremes have caused €822 billion in losses in the EU since 1980, with recent years among the costliest on record.

Together, these initiatives underline the urgent need for coordinated climate adaptation efforts to strengthen resilience across Europe’s societies, economies and workplaces.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration concluded its 13th annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction earlier this month, encouraging employers and workers across the United States to strengthen awareness around fall hazards and workplace safety practices.

Held from 4-8 May 2026, the nationwide initiative focused on reducing falls, which remain one of the leading causes of fatalities within the construction sector. The campaign promoted greater emphasis on planning, employee training and hazard identification to improve safety performance on jobsites.

Throughout the week, employers were encouraged to temporarily halt work activities and conduct safety-focused sessions, including toolbox talks, fall prevention training, hazard recognition exercises and equipment demonstrations. Particular attention was given to risks linked to roofing operations, scaffolding and ladder use.

Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health David Keeling participated in a Stand-Down event held at the Henry Bacon Ball Field on the National Mall, where several infrastructure and construction projects are underway. OSHA representatives also attended events organised in different parts of the country.

The initiative formed part of OSHA’s wider Fall Prevention Campaign and was delivered in collaboration with organisations including The Center for Construction Research and Training, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the NORA Construction Sector Council.

OSHA also announced plans to strengthen cooperation with Construction Safety Week through a new alliance aimed at supporting worker wellbeing and preventing serious incidents across the construction project lifecycle.

Since its launch in 2012, the Stand-Down campaign has helped train millions of workers and promote stronger safety awareness throughout the industry.