CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACROSS EU MEMBER STATES

Dialogue to Identify Challenges and Exchange Practices on Critical Infrastructures in the Context of the EU Integrated Framework on Climate Resilience

DATE
October 2, 2026

LOCATION
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), VMA Building, Brussels

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), IDDRI, CROSS-CASCADE (ECDPM), and Adaptation Without Borders (AWB) are jointly organising a dialogue on the climate resilience of critical infrastructure across EU Member States.

Climate resilience is gaining increasing importance within EU Member States’ political and economic policy agendas. At the same time, the European Commission is preparing the upcoming Integrated EU Framework for Climate Resilience (IFCR), which is expected to support Member States in climate-risk assessment and resilience planning, strengthen cross-sectoral cooperation, and help mainstream resilience across priority sectors, policy frameworks and investments.

The dialogue will bring together representatives from EU institutions and Member States, policymakers, academia, infrastructure operators, businesses, trade unions and civil society. Placing risk ownership at the centre of the discussion, participants will exchange experiences on how responsibilities, priorities, financing, risk acceptance and governance arrangements shape the resilience of critical infrastructure in practice. Particular attention will also be given to the cascading and transboundary effects of climate risks and to cooperation across sectors and national borders.

The morning programme will feature contributions from the European Commission, European Parliament, European Environment Agency and IDDRI, followed by panel discussions examining who owns climate-related risks, who bears the costs and determines the level of resilience, and how cooperation can be strengthened to address cross-border and cascading risks.

The afternoon will consist of closed-door breakout discussions focusing on energy-sector resilience, transport-sector resilience and the management of interdependencies for system resilience. A final collective discussion will consider how the upcoming EU Framework on Climate Resilience can help clarify responsibilities and risk ownership, foster cross-sectoral and cross-border cooperation, and strengthen policy coherence for critical infrastructure resilience across Europe.

The outcomes of the dialogue will contribute to IDDRI’s forthcoming report on the climate resilience of critical infrastructure across five EU countries and will inform a dedicated section examining the role of the upcoming EU Integrated Framework on Climate Resilience.