How Is Climate Change Included in the Implementation of the European Flood Directive? Analysis of the Methodological Approaches of Different Countries

Abstract

Climate change has major effects on the planet, and its consequences on today’s society are undeniable. Climate change is the cause of the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events including floods. Flood management in Europe has experienced a significant change due to the emergence of the Flood Directive and its implementation in national regulations. The Flood Directive requires the inclusion of the effects of climate change. With multiple factors such as governmental and administrative diversity, and various management tools, each country uses a different methodology. This research conducts a bibliographic review to analyze the methodological approaches applied by four different countries—the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain—showing their differences and the causes of such differences and examining the common weaknesses and strengths in the countries’ approach. To this end, it analyzes how to include climate change in the implementation of the Flood Directive in the four countries studied throughout the two cycles. Developing a uniform approach to FD implementation has been hampered by (1) different starting points in the technology of flood prediction, (2) widely varying “traditional” approaches to flood and risk management, and (3) differing levels of the integration of local, regional, and national agencies. Development under the FD has, however, led to increased awareness of the common uncertainty associated with the different current methodologies and the need to deepen the knowledge of climate change as well as the need to develop the technology to reduce said uncertainty.