Adaptation to Climate Change. Prioritizing Measures in the German Adaptation Strategy

The German Adaptation Strategy launched a process to assess the consequences of climate change and identify key areas of adaptation measures. For its effective and efficient implementation it is important to set priorities based on generally recognized criteria. This paper proposes a cross-sectoral prioritization concept for assessing and selecting federal adaptation measures. Based on a literature review, five key criteria could be distinguished (strategic importance, urgency, side-effects, no-regret, flexibility), which were supplemented with criteria to assess the technical and socioeconomic feasibility (economical aspects, acceptance). The multicriteria approach enhances transparency and traceability of decision making in the adaptation process. Taking account of climate impacts (path 1) and prioritizing adaptation measures using the multi-criteria approach (path 2) constitute only a first step. Step 2 integrates the findings of path 1 and 2 to select appropriate measures for an Adaptation Action Plan.