Climate change adaptation and resilience is an essential component of maintaining and enhancing aviation safety in Europe and globally. While aviation has long addressed weather-related hazards, climate change is altering the frequency, intensity, geographical distribution and seasonal patterns of those hazards. This creates new challenges for safety risk management and requires a forward-looking, evidence-based and coordinated approach across regulators, industry and the scientific community.
At EU level, adaptation to climate change is recognised as being as important as mitigation. The EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change sets out a pathway towards a climate‑resilient Europe by 2050, while the European Climate Law requires continuous progress in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change. Within this framework, EASA has integrated climate change adaptation into its strategic safety priorities.
EASA Strategic Context
Managing the impact of climate change on aviation safety is a strategic objective for EASA, as reflected in the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS):
- EPAS Volume I (Strategic Priorities) identifies “Managing the impact of climate change” as a priority for the European aviation system.
- EPAS Volume II (EPAS Actions) includes dedicated research actions to review and assess scientific knowledge on trends in weather hazards relevant to aviation safety.
- EPAS Volume III (Safety Risk Portfolio) highlights the need to ensure that safety risk assessments and mitigation measures remain sustainable in the face of long‑term climate-driven changes.
Climate change is expected to influence a range of weather-related hazards that are already well known in aviation safety management, including severe convective storms, hail, heavy precipitation, clear-air turbulence, low-level windshear, airborne icing, lightning strikes and high ground temperatures affecting aircraft and infrastructure performance. While these effects typically manifest over long timescales, they must be anticipated early to avoid future safety vulnerabilities. An overview of key climate effects on commercial air transport can be found in the latest European Aviation Environmental Report.
To strengthen its knowledge base, EASA has made climate change impacts a core topic of its Scientific Committee since its establishment in 2022. Early findings, including on severe convective storms, hail and clear‑air turbulence, were published in the annual Scientific Committee Annual Reports. In addition, the European_Academia@EASA conference in 2023 addressed, among other topics, the implications of climate change for aircraft take-off performance.
From Scientific Knowledge to Safety Management
EASA’s approach to climate change adaptation focuses on translating the best available scientific knowledge into safety-relevant insights. This includes:
- understanding how climate change may modify the characteristics and trends of weather hazards;
- assessing potential safety effects across aviation domains such as flight operations, training, aircraft design and airworthiness, ATM/ANS, and aerodrome operations and infrastructure;
- identifying interdependencies with capacity, efficiency, economic and environmental aspects;
- supporting the identification of new safety issues, or existing safety issues that may be exacerbated by climate change.
This work supports EASA’s EU-wide safety risk portfolios and contributes to the continuous evolution of the EPAS.
European Network on the Impact of Climate Change on Aviation (EN‑ICCA)
To further structure and coordinate work on climate change adaptation, EASA established the European Network on the Impact of Climate Change on Aviation (EN‑ICCA) in November 2023.
EN‑ICCA is a collaborative network bringing together European aviation authorities, the aviation industry, meteorological and climate services, and the scientific community. Participation is voluntary and based on recognised expertise relevant to the network’s activities.
Scope and Focus
The scope of EN‑ICCA covers:
- the effects of climate change on weather‑related phenomena and wildlife where these have a significant impact on aviation safety;
- associated interdependencies with efficiency, capacity, economic and environmental domains; and
- contributions to the aviation sector’s adaptation objectives under the European Climate Law.
The primary focus is on civil aviation, with priority given to commercial aviation, including aircraft operations, airports, ATM/ANS and associated infrastructure. While the area of interest is global, EN‑ICCA activities are driven by European safety needs and regulatory responsibilities.
Objectives
EN‑ICCA supports EASA and European aviation stakeholders by:
- facilitating structured exchange of information between regulators, industry and the scientific community on climate change impacts and adaptation measures;
- supporting coordination with relevant research initiatives;
- providing a shared, up‑to‑date understanding of what is scientifically known about trends in weather‑related phenomena affecting aviation safety;
- informing the scientific community of priority research topics from a regulatory and operational safety perspective;
- supporting the identification and prioritisation of adaptation actions and good practices to enhance system resilience;
- assisting EASA in identifying new or emerging safety issues linked to climate change.
Deliverables
The main deliverables of EN‑ICCA include:
- assessments of trends in weather‑related phenomena attributable to climate change;
- preliminary assessments of the safety effects of these trends across aviation domains;
- recommendations to address scientific knowledge gaps;
- recommendations and good practices to mitigate safety risks and support adaptation;
- methodologies for assessing scientific knowledge and reporting safety-relevant conclusions in a consistent and transparent manner.
Most EN‑ICCA deliverables are intended for dissemination or publication, subject to approval by the network’s co‑chairs.
Work Programme and Outlook
The EN‑ICCA work programme is updated annually to reflect evolving scientific knowledge and regulatory priorities.
- 2024–2025 activities focused on developing and applying methodologies to assess the state of scientific knowledge on weather hazard trends, including airborne icing conditions. A dedicated report on airborne icing trends is planned for finalisation by Q1 2026.
- 2026-2027 will include assessments of future trends in severe convective storms and associated hazards, building on work initiated by the EASA Scientific Committee.
Through EN‑ICCA, EASA aims to ensure that climate change adaptation is systematically embedded into aviation safety management, supporting a safe, resilient and sustainable European aviation system in a changing climate.