Deadline: 21-Sep-23
The European Commission (EC) is excited to announce the call for proposals for Climate Change Adaptation under the Programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE).
Objectives
- Projects under this strand should help to achieve the long-term vision of the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change that, in 2050, the EU will be a climate-resilient society which is fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Projects should help to reinforce adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability, in line with the Paris Agreement and the proposed European Climate Law
- Projects under this strand should help to:
- Ensure continuous progress in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, as required under with Article 5 of the European Climate Law
- Achieve the long-term vision of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change30 that, in 2050, the EU will be a climate-resilient society which is fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change
- More specifically, projects under this call should support the strategy’s objective to:
- Make adaptation smarter (improving knowledge, managing uncertainty, and informing adaptation actions by robust data and risk assessment tools that are available to all);
- Make adaptation more systemic (incorporating climate resilience considerations in all relevant policy fields, because climate change has impacts at all levels of society and across all sectors of the economy);
- Make adaptation faster (developing and rolling out adaptation solutions that allow us to adapt more quickly and comprehensively).
- Furthermore, projects should take care to avoid maladaptation, i.e. adaptation actions or practices aimed at a group of people and that actually make them more vulnerable to climate change
- In order to contribute to these objectives, projects should demonstrate a clear and convincing intervention logic which details:
- The specific climate risks and vulnerabilities to be addressed;
- The suitability of the proposed adaptation options and methods to minimise the identified risks and vulnerabilities;
- The implementation of these options and methods during the duration of the project, and The approach for monitoring and evaluating the results, including after the duration of the project.
Funding Information
- The indicative available call budget is EUR 66,350,000.
- Climate Change Adaptation: EUR 30,000,000
Areas of intervention
- Adaptation policy development, and adaptation strategies and plans: Projects addressing this area should help national, regional and local authorities to further develop and improve effective and science-based adaptation policies and strategies.
- State-of-the art tools and solutions for adaptation: The lack of access to actionable solutions is one of the main barriers to adaptation. Climate resilience decision support systems and rapid response solutions for decisionmakers and adaptation practitioners must become more accessible and rapid to foster their take-up
- Nature-based solutions in the management of land, forests, coasts and marine areas: Implementing nature-based solutions on a large scale would increase climate resilience and contribute to multiple Green Deal objectives.
- Adapting cities and regions to climate change: The local level is the bedrock of adaptation, and whilst climate change affects European regions and citizens directly, their exposure and vulnerability to climate impacts is unequal, often worsening pre-existing inequalities and vulnerabilities.
- Climate-proofing and resilience of infrastructure and buildings: The built environment like transport and energy networks, or security, telecommunications, health, water and waste management infrastructures, or buildings is characterised by a long life span and high investment and maintenance costs. This sector needs to withstand the current and future climate extremes and global warming effects.
- Adaptation solutions for farmers, forest managers, Natura 2000 managers and other land managers: Climate change will have far-reaching consequences and will increase the risks for agriculture, forest management, and Natura 2000 and other land management, both through the growing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, but also through slow-onset processes like desertification, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification or sea level rise.
- Water management: Europe is increasingly facing situations of either too much or not enough water, and climate change exacerbates the challenge of sharing water resources. Ensuring that freshwater is available in a sustainable manner is fundamental for climate resilience.
- Preparedness for extreme weather events: Whilst the importance of adaptation is increasingly recognised, multiple reports highlight the lack of preparedness and related challenges.
- Financial instruments, innovative solutions and public-private collaboration on insurance and loss data: The share of non-insured economic losses caused by climate-related disasters appears to be widening because of slow adaptation action and more frequent extreme weather events.
Expected Outcomes
- Efficient delivery of the quantified objectives by end of the project
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- Be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- Be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- Non-EU countries:
- Listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature
- The coordinator must be established in an eligible country Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register, Before submitting the proposal And will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.
- Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions, etc.
Specific Cases
- Exceptional funding — Entities from other countries are exceptionally eligible, if the granting authority considers their participation essential for the implementation of the action.
- Natural persons — Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
- International organisations — International organisations are eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons
- EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’78. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).
- Countries currently negotiating association agreements — Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature (with retroactive effect, if provided in the agreement).
For more information, visit European Commission.