The Commission has announced 118 regions and local authorities that participate in the EU Climate Adaptation Mission to create more resilience across Europe.
On 7 June 2022, the European Commission (EC) announced the first 118 regions and local authorities, coming from 18 different Member States and 3 Associated Countries or countries on the path to association, that will join the EU Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change. The 118 regions and local authorities signed the Mission Charter at the European Committee of the Regions’ first Forum of the EU Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change on 7 June 2022, officially declaring their participation and signalling their commitment despite the Charter not being legally binding. Additionally, 17 private companies, service centres, research networks and local action groups supporting climate resilience endorsed the Mission Charter and became so-called “Friends of the Mission”. The Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change is one of the five EU Missions under the EU framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe (see SwissCore article), which have also been advancing in their respective implementation activities. For example, regarding the Climate-neutral and smart cities Mission, the EC announced on 28 April 2022 the 100 EU cities from all 27 Member States and 12 additional cities from Associated Countries or countries on the path to association that were selected to join the Cities Mission. Currently, the selected cities are invited to create Climate City Contracts, outlining their commitments towards creating those climate neutral and smart cities until 2030.
The main goal of the Climate Adaptation Mission is to support at least 150 European regions and communities in accelerating their transition towards climate resilience by 2030. It is therefore in line with the European Green Deal and the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy. The Mission aims to promote research & innovation to find solutions and ways to adapt to climate change, especially encouraging regions, cities and communities to be at the forefront of this transition. Considering that climate change affects all regions and sectors in different ways, the Mission thus wants to follow a more bottom-up approach and encourage the participation of various local actors. These actors are essential in implementing the Mission, as they will be the ones deploying the new technologies, responding to local needs and guiding local stakeholders towards the green transition. Furthermore, the Mission intends to encourage the involvement of citizens in achieving climate resilience, for example by helping to organise citizen assemblies to ensure that the views of citizens are included in the process of creating the adaptation strategies. For the period of 2021-2023, the Climate Adaptation Mission will receive €370 million funding from Horizon Europe, of which about €230 million have already been allocated towards the three calls for proposals in the 2021/22 Missions Work Programme. For 2022, a call for proposals with six different topics is currently open until 27 September 2022. On 14 March 2022, the EC launched an invitation to EU regions and local authorities to join the Climate Adaptation Mission. After signing the Mission Charter, the participating regions and local authorities will have access to a Mission Implementation Platform, which is foreseen to be launched in early 2023 and which will provide guidance and support for the participating regions and local authorities to assist them in taking measures towards achieving climate resilience. Furthermore, the signatories of the Mission Charter will be part of a community of practice and thus be able to develop common strategies for climate resilience and exchange data on climate risk assessments. After the announcement of the first 118 participating regions and local authorities, interested regions and local authorities will still be able to apply to join the Mission as there is no deadline to apply. The EC and the European Committee of the Regions encourage applicants from all Member States to sign the Mission Charter and join the Mission in order to ensure collaboration in achieving climate resilience all over Europe.