Urban Climate Adaptation Indicators: Earth Observation Contributions

The EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, European Climate Law, and European Green Deal lay down a powerful policy framework for climate adaptation in Europe. A key component of this framework is the need for fit-for-purpose adaptation monitoring, reporting, and evaluation systems, using a harmonised framework of standards and indicators. There are currently no formalized EU-standard or consolidated set of adaptation indicators, especially when addressing the vulnerability dimension of climate-change or -adaptation actions. This work aims to address this gap by delivering an inventory of Urban Climate Adaptation Indicators. It was produced in the framework of the Urban Climate Adaptation Deep Dive by the Knowledge Centre on Earth Observation (KCEO), which also highlights the EO potential. The compilation of more than 500 indicators was derived by consolidating a diverse set of adaptation frameworks (including sources such as European Topic Centres, Joint Research Centre, Lancet Countdown, and standardization entities) comprising a wide and encompassing corpus of city-relevant indicators that underpins the inherent complexity of the urban environment, many dimensions of vulnerability, and impact of climate change. Over 200 of these indicators are in some way addressed by EO, with approximately 100 being directly approachable through ΕΟ and the majority of indicators strongly addressing vulnerability. The indicators are also analysed with respect to their reliance on socioeconomic data and their mapping against the European Environment Agency-sanctioned Key Type Measures nomenclature, against the risk components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability), as well as whether they describe climate change impacts or adaptation action outcomes. The inventory, intended as descriptive rather than prescriptive, provides a clear pathway to enriching the adaptation-relevant intelligence value chain and the significant role that EO can play in this value chain.