CLIMAAX

Citizens in virtually every inhabited place on the planet are increasingly experiencing dramatic consequences of a changing climate.  Also within Europe  the  adaptation  gap  between the multi-hazard  climate  risk and  the risk management capability is growing. However, the risk profiles of communities and regions display an immense diversity. The European landscape  of disaster risk management and  climate  adaptation  is  far  from  uniform. This   sheer diversity in risk   profiles   imposes   a challenge to the implementation of the European Union Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, aiming to support every European region to improve their resilience to climate change impacts. Every region should be enabled to develop or upgrade their risk management plans addressing climate adaptation and emergency response targets. A comprehensive multi-hazard Climate Risk Assessment (CRA) is an indispensable element of this regional risk management.  

The project CLIMAAX (CLIMAte risk and vulnerability Assessment framework and toolboX) responds to this call by providing financial, analytical and  practical support to this  stakeholder group, allowing an improvement of regional climate and  emergency risk management plans. It is designed to significantly contribute to the harmonization and consolidation of the practice of climate risk assessment, leaving a substantial legacy for upcoming European initiatives. 

The CLIMAAX framework, toolset and support program is a major contribution to the goal of the EU Mission on Adaptation  to  Climate  Change to improve  the  climate  resilience of  a  large  number  of European  regions  and communities,  particularly  the  regions  with  high  vulnerability, limited resources  and/or low adaptation capacity. This analysis will provide a clear picture of (a) the outline of a (semi-)operational CRA support service that will be able to service a large group of regions and communities after the end of the CLIMAAX project; (b) which (group of) institution(s) would be willing and able to sustainably provide such a service; (c) an outline of a CRA ISO certificate dedicated to CRA, and (d) how the support service can be aligned with European policies on climate adaptation and emergency response. 

CLIMAAX is a Horizon Europe-funded project of 48 months that started on [TBC] with estimated eligible costs of €19 999 772.50 (maximum grant amount is €19 999 772.50).  

Objectives 

CLIMAAX overall mission is to provide general support to European regions and  communities  to  better understand, prepare for and manage climate risks and opportunities, by providing local and regional administrative units  access  to  climate  risk  profiles,  enhanced  early  warning  systems,  and  guidance  for  the  development  of comprehensive risk management plans. 

The project specifically aims to: 

1. Co-design a harmonised methodological framework to assess the climate change risks and impacts at the regional scale across Europe in a close cooperation with the national and regional authorities who are in charge of the climate risk assessment processes, after a process of benchmarking and comparison of the already ongoing climate risk assessment frameworks; 

2. Develop an operational multi-risk assessment methodological  framework  and  supporting  Toolbox to  assist  regions  and  communities in  better understanding, preparing for and managing climate risks; the  co-design  of  the  operational framework and Toolbox will include an iterative co-creation process through5 selected Pilot Sites; 

3. Development or improvement of community-based Emergency and Risk Management Plans to cope with the increase of the frequency and intensity of the climate and weather events affecting their Key Community Systems  and  to support the implementation of effective adaptation and resilience building strategies at local level; 

4. Include algorithms to  support  the adjustment  of current Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems to the change in the frequencies and intensities of the climate and weather  events  affecting  their  Key  Community  Systems,  ensuring  its  adaptation  to  the  Climate  Change; 

5. Allow regions  and  communities  to efficiently access  currently available information on climate change impacts and climate data services from the Climate ADAPT platform and  from  the  JRC  Risk  Data  Hub, Copernicus  Climate  Change  Service (C3S)and  Emergency  Service (CEMS), EEA’s European Climate Data Explorer, and other European climate services, knowledge portals and repositories; 

6. CLIMAAX framework and Toolbox implementation in >50 EU Regions/Cities/Communities allowing  the  demonstration  and beta  testing  of  the  climate  risk  and  vulnerability assessment framework Toolbox, the refinement of the assessment tools, and the enhancement of the adaptive capacity; Implementation of the Financial Support  for Third Parties program and creation of an active Community of Practice. 

Contact person at EURADA: Jip Lenseen