Gearing up for ECCA - Europe’s main Climate Change Adaptation conference

Climate Change programme director, Bente Pretlove, is a keynote speaker at ECCA and gives her perspective on the conference and two of the key sessions that DNV GL will host.

Unique platform - “Why is ECCA important?”

"The ECCA conference will cover both scientific and practical knowledge on adaptation to climate change and will bring together researchers, policy makers as well as business. This represents an important arena for discussing different perspectives on adapting and building resilience to a changing climate; from climate information to decision making.

“I believe the conference is an important part of the EU effort to build a market for climate services. It will identify strengths, limitations and potential gaps in current research, policy efforts and business actions and provide a more informed basis for discussions between different stakeholders. “

Resilient Cities - What is DNV GL hoping to achieve in convening the smarter cities session?

“One of the key challenges in building resilience is the need to take a broader view and carefully consider how different systems are interconnected. In the case of cities, resilience must be developed within and at the interphases between physical, social as well as governance systems.

“During the resilient cities session, DNV GL wishes to bring together different stakeholders to discuss new approaches to planning for resilience in cities. The focus will be on experience with taking a systems perspective and developing creative solutions and toolkits.”

Resilient Power Systems - How can DNV GL help?

“In recent years, power systems have experienced significant disruption as a result of extreme weather events. Outages and damages to power infrastructure are costly and severely impacts other functions in society.

“Strategic Research and Innovation (SR&I) in DNV GL has developed a risk-based framework that can support decision-makers in finding cost-effective solutions to adapt and strengthen system resilience. The framework includes several steps; from climate projections through hazard identification to impact and risk assessments. At the ECCA conference, DNV GL will convene different experts to discuss the climate risks faced by the power sector and different adaptation strategies and solutions.”

What is DNV GL’s ‘USP’ in relation to Climate change?

I believe that DNV GL’s unique selling proposition is our ability to put together multidisciplinary teams that can address climate risks in a holistic way. Supporting our customers in building resilience and adapting to the risks of climate change is central to our purpose of safeguarding life, property and environment. Our core technology and risk management services together with our broader systems understanding give us a unique opportunity to support business in translating climate information to an actionable decision basis.