I - Better understanding climate risk at the regional level
I hope we see an improvement in climate literacy across all regions.
Frederiek Sperna Weiland, CLIMAAX project coordinator
Risk assessments can help regions and countries to more effectively adapt to climate change. However, not all regions have the capacity or knowledge to carry out such plans, nor are they necessarily faced with the same threats. “There is significant diversity in the ability of regions to carry out risk assessments,” notes CLIMAAX project coordinator Bart van den Hurk from Deltares, an independent research centre in the Netherlands. “In addition, there might be underpopulated provinces that don’t get much attention, but which nonetheless face significant climate impacts such as extreme flooding.” Many European regions and communities have limited experience and resources to integrate available local and global data, models and concepts into a context-specific climate risk assessment. The CLIMAAX project was launched to address these issues.
A toolbox for climate resilience
The project, funded under the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, is built on three key elements. The first is a framework for regional risk assessments, which can be applied anywhere. The framework provides a comparable approach that takes into account diverse conditions and challenges on the ground. The second element is the project’s free, open and pan-European toolbox, designed to enable regions to access European data sets and overlay these with their own local data. As with the risk assessment framework, the project team took inspiration from existing tools, and built upon these. “The third element is funding,” says van den Hurk. “We recently opened up a call to regions to apply for funding. This will enable them to carry out their own regional risk assessments, using our tools.” In parallel, five pilot regional risk assessments are already under way. These pioneering regions – funded directly by the project – will follow the CLIMAAX approach, and provide valuable feedback to both the project consortium and other regions. “We have planned a webinar so that these five regions can share their experiences, and inspire others,” says Frederiek Sperna Weiland, who will take over coordination of the project. In 2024, a second Open Call will make up to EUR 12 million available for at least 50 regions and communities to implement the CLIMAAX methodological framework. The ultimate goal is that the CLIMAAX project will demonstrate the viability of a more uniform risk assessment model, and provide a blueprint for other regions across Europe. “I hope we see an improvement in climate literacy across all regions,” adds Sperna Weiland.
Keywords
Climaax, EU missions, cities mission, adaptation mission, climate change, projects info pack, research, innovation, resilience, sustainable, urban, climate-neutral, smart mobility, clean energy