In support of the European Green Deal, the EU Adaptation Strategy, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change and the EU Disaster Resilience Goals, the successful proposal will accelerate adaptation efforts of regional and local authorities. The project is expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• The regional multi-risk assessment framework and the supporting toolbox already developed in the context of the Mission are further improved and their use is mainstreamed. As a result, scientific knowledge on climate risk assessments at the regional and local levels is strengthened.
• Regions and local authorities have conducted a comprehensive climate risk assessment and are therefore better equipped to reduce their vulnerability and exposure to climate change and to improve their climate resilience.
• Closer links between climate adaptation and disaster risk management policy actors, communities, scientists and civil society are established.
• Current and future climate risks are communicated more clearly to non-specialist audiences, boosting the buy-in and support for a wide range of actions for climate resilience at the regional and local levels and fighting climate disinformation.

Rationale
Europe is unprepared for fast-growing climate risks. Only about two-thirds of regional/local authorities have conducted risk assessments, many of which need updating. Robust risk assessments are the foundation for sound adaptation planning.

Objectives

1. Consolidate and mainstream the CLIMAAX framework and toolbox for regional/local climate risk assessments:
   • Multi-risk, multi-sector, open-source, broadly applicable across EU/Associated Countries.
   • Address cascading/compounding risks, link global scenarios to local scales, include dynamic risk evolution.
   • Integrate with community-based risk management planning.
   • Incorporate new datasets (Copernicus, Destination Earth, EURO-CORDEX), digital tools (AI), and European research infrastructures.
   • Ensure usability for both experts and non-experts, with clear communication and user-friendly interface to combat misinformation.
   • Co-design with authorities; embed feedback for continuous improvement.
2. Apply the improved toolbox via cascade funding:
   • Provide grants for at least 50 regional/local authorities to conduct or refine comprehensive risk assessments.
   • Eligible: EU and Associated Country authorities not already supported by CLIMAAX.
   • At least 60% of EU funding dedicated to FSTP; first call ideally within 12 months.
   • Ensure inclusivity, equity, and geographical balance.
   • Build on lessons from CLIMAAX, Pathways2Resilience, and engage with Mission Secretariat and National Hubs.

Integration

• Support development/revision of adaptation, risk management, and disaster prevention plans.
• Enhance replicability and knowledge sharing across Member States.
• Strengthen links with Mission Adaptation objectives and commitments in the Commission Communication on managing climate risks.

General conditions

During its duration, the project should include an open support line or helpdesk to assist European regional and local authorities that are not financially supported by the project (2^nd objective) but are nevertheless interested in using the toolbox to assess their climate risks.

The project is expected to identify and support ways by which the framework and toolbox may be applied more widely, including by the disaster risk management community (e.g. emergency responders, national civil protection agencies, disaster risk planners, Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network). To this end, the awarded project should collaborate with the Mission National Adaptation Hubs^[6] to share best practices from regional and local authorities receiving the third-party grants and foster replicability at the national level. These could entail co-design, co-production, stakeholder involvement or similar activities so that the results of the project are beneficial for the mentioned policymakers or operational/rescue bodies.

The proposals should explore ways to harvest the data generated as part of the project to increase the resolution and quality of European-wide climate risk datasets, assessments and responses. The assessments conducted under the project should be made available for any future reference and use through the Joint Research Centre’s Risk Data Hub^[7], the recognized Hub of climate risk knowledge as indicated by the EU Adaptation Strategy.

As an important contributor to the Adaptation Mission, the project awarded should cooperate with the Mission Implementation Platform^[8], including (but not limited to) actively inform and engage with the regions and local authorities already involved in the Mission (e.g. Charter Signatories, Community of Practice), as those have shown their commitment to accelerate action on climate resilience. The project is also expected to contribute to the monitoring of the Mission and proposals are encouraged to link up their monitoring to the framework developed by the project stemming from HORIZON-MISS-2024-CLIMA-01-03 and dedicate appropriate resources to this task.

Finally, operational links and collaboration should be established with the Climate-ADAPT platform; the relevant projects from the Mission^[9]; or other parts of Horizon Europe such as clusters 3 and 5 or other relevant EU programmes such as LIFE or the Technical Support Instrument.

Applicants should acknowledge these requests and already account for them in their proposal, making adequate provisions in terms of resources and budget to engage and collaborate with the Mission.

Specific conditions

described in the specific topic of the Work Programme