Climate change is affecting temperatures and precipitation across Europe. However, the observed and projected changes differ across seasons and regions. Further differentiation is necessary between mean water availability and extremes, such as droughts, heavy precipitation and floods. For example, some European regions may experience an increase in flooding even though annual precipitation is projected to decline. This webinar gives an overview on observed and projected changes in water availability in Europe, based on several indicators maintained by the European Environment Agency and presented in its regular assessment reports. These indicators cover mean and extreme precipitation, river flow (including hydrological droughts and floods), soil moisture, irrigation water availability and demand, as well as some socio-economic effects of droughts and floods.

Speaker:
Hans-Martin Füssel, European Environment Agency (EEA)
Dr. Hans-Martin Füssel works as project manager for climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen (Denmark). He holds master degrees in Computer Science from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and in Applied Systems Science from the University of Osnabrück (Germany). He obtained a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Potsdam (Germany).
Dr.  Füssel has more than 15 years of experience in climate change research and policy advice. He worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany) from 1996 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2010. As a recipient of a Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship, he worked from 2004 to 2006 at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy of Stanford University (California). From 2007 to 2009, he was a Professor by Special Invitation at the Ritsumeikan Research Center for Sustainability Science of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto (Japan). In 2010, he joined the European Environment Agency (EEA) to support climate-change related policy making in Europe. Among others, he coordinated the production of the EEA Report "Climate change, impacts, and vulnerability in Europe" published in 2012, and he is currently coordinating the follow-up report scheduled for publication in 2016.
During his academic career, Dr. Füssel has contributed to many interdisciplinary research projects concerned with the integrated assessment of climate change and the development of response strategies. His research interests included climate impacts modelling, climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment, probabilistic integrated assessment of climate change, international adaptation funding, and the justice implications of global climate change. Dr. Füssel has consulted UNDP, UNFCCC, WHO, IPCC, the World Bank, the European Commission, and national governments on climate change. He served as author, review editor, and expert reviewer for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.

Introduced by:
Isabella Alloisio
Isabella Alloisio is a researcher and policy analyst at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), where she is involved in the CLIMIP project, and she is the external relations manager at the International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG). She was project manager in the field of energy regulation at the Italian Authority for Energy. She holds a PhD in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University, and she was visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley conducting research in the renewable energy field, and PhD researcher at the Centre for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy (IEFE) at Bocconi University. She has published her Phd thesis on the Policy Drivers of Photovoltaic Industry Growth in California, Germany and Japan. She holds a MA in International Relations from the University of Geneva, and worked in International Organisations, such as the United Nations and the European Parliament.

Working language: English.
Admission free. Registration is required. For information and registration: events@iccgov.org or 041/2700442 (Silvia Nevi).

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