The Urban Plan of Adaptation to Climate Changes as a Component of Contemporary Environmental Policy in Poland at the Municipality Level

Many Polish cities and towns have been recently struggling with various effects of natural events (such as sea and river floodings, droughts, heat – and frost – waves, gales and torrential downpours). It is anticipated that climate change is going to cause serious barriers to the development of these cities and towns due to the scale and frequency of individual natural events. Thereby, the effects of climate change not only constitute a real problem in our environment, but are also increasingly perceived as objectives of environmental policy carried out at the municipality level. In the article, having analysed current Polish local environmental policy, the authors discussed the role and significance of the strategic document of Urban Plans of Adaptation to climate change adopted by most large cities in Poland in the context of the determination and structure of policy objectives. The universalness of that document was also underlined as well as its long-term character in light of climate change and shaping the conditions for future functioning of cities.