It is well known that climate change mitigation targets must be met to avoid dramatic consequences of climate change. But the answers to some questions are still unknown: How can we ensure that we meet decarbonization targets and best adapt to unavoidable climate impacts? Can adaptation measures trigger unexpected rebound effects in other sectors? How great is the risk of overachieving climate protection targets through emission-intensive adaptation measures?
KNOWING will disseminate knowledge and tools to authorities, stakeholders, initiatives and the general public. It will not only increase knowledge about adaptation and mitigation measures and their interactions, but also raise awareness and support for the measures and the tools and guidelines needed to implement them effectively.
The project will develop a modelling framework to calculate the interactions between adaptation measures and climate change mitigation strategies to determine the optimal combination. Concrete adaptation strategies will then be modelled and evaluated in sample regions in Estonia, Spain, Italy and Germany. Based on these results, the strategy will be replicated in other regions in Austria, Croatia, Vietnam, Spain and Germany to develop generalizable climate change mitigation pathways.
BEF Germany collaborates with the pilot region Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg in northern Germany focusing on the impact of climate change on local agriculture as well as solutions to tackle drought and soul erosion.