Climate change is having far-reaching effects ranging from unprecedented forest fires, heatwaves, droughts, floods, or other extreme events to slow-onset processes like desertification, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification or sea level rise.
Projects under this priority area should help to:

• Ensure continuous progress in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, as required by Article 5 of the European Climate Law;
• Achieve the long-term vision of the 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;
• Reduce the vulnerability to the risks described in the European Climate Risk Assessment;
• Address principles mentioned in the Commission’s Communication on managing climate risks.

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.

Areas of intervention

• Support the development of climate adaptation policies and the revision of national, regional or local climate adaptation strategies and plans;
• Implementing state-of-the art tools for climate risk assessment or selection of cost-effective adaptation measures for dealing with climate threats and solutions for adaptation;
• Development and implementation of nature-based solutions for different types of areas (rural, urban and coastal)
• Climate-proofing and resilience of infrastructure and buildings;
• Adaptation solutions for agriculture and forestry;
• Water management;
• Climate adaptation and health;
• Preparedness for compound risks and cascading risks;
• Financial instruments, innovative solutions and public private collaboration on insurance and loss data.

The present Call topic targets Standard Action Projects (SAP) aimed at achieving the objectives of the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation sub-programme. SAP are defined in section 2 (Type of Action) while the general objectives of the sub-programme in section 1 (‘Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation’).

Third countries associated to the LIFE Programme: The assessment of each proposal will be done in line with the provisions of the relevant association agreement.