Bridging the Gap for faster action: bringing together the research community and regions/local authorities
ECCA2025 Day 2 (June 17) plenary presentation was held by Philippe Tulkens, Head of Unit, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, Deputy Mission Manager of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.
The following is an extract of his intervention:
This is a view from the last devastating flood in Emilia Romagna, it happened between May 2 and 17, 2023. This town is Lugo, 32,000 people. A one-hour car drive from Rimini.
President von der Leyen visited Emilia-Romagna on May 25 and again in January 2024. This slide shows a tweet she posted during her first visit. The EU offered Civil Protection Assistance, Satellite Mapping Support (Copernicus), financial Aid for reconstruction (for example via the EU Solidarity Fund). As the President said in the tweet, it is important to provide “relief” and to “rebuild”, of course.
However, today we focus on the third element from the tweet, the imperative of adapting to the impacts of climate change in a concrete way
The 2024 European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) was crystal clear: according to the assessment, Europe’s policies and adaptation actions are not keeping pace with the rapidly growing risks.
This is why, as you heard yesterday in the video message by Jan Dusik, Deputy Director-General for Climate Action at the European Commission, the Commission views climate adaptation and resilience as a priority in this new mandate. We need to help the EU regions and local authorities to adapt to climate change and the R&I community has a key role to play in this challenge.
This is where the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change comes in to play. The Mission brings together the R&I community and local administrators and aims at deploying solutions
For those of you not familiar with this Mission, here is, in a nutshell, what we are trying to achieve:
By 2030 the Mission activities will have accompanied at least 150 regions and local authorities towards climate resilience. We do so in a number of ways:
o The Mission helps the regions to better understand their climate risks
o The Mission supports them in developing their own tailored adaptation pathways to be better prepared
o The Mission leveraged the full power of R&I to accelerate change by testing and deploying innovative solutions, demonstrating them across the EU.
Over 200 Regions and Local Authorities so far have been testing innovative solutions funded by Mission adaptation, via 50+ projects.
Our R&I projects are a bit different if compared with the traditional projects funded via Horizon Europe: they are place-based & demonstration-oriented (70% of the funding), they are integrated and multidisciplinary, they include community and stakeholder engagement.
They connect YOU, the research community, with decision-makers as R&I projects are the engine of the activities.
More projects will be funded as we prepare the Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2026 and 2027. Since 2021, this programme has included dedicated budgets for Mission Adaptation and the other EU Missions (climate-neutral and smart cities, healthy oceans and seas, soil health, and cancer).
Call to action: what climate experts can do to help
Let me end with a message to all of you: We need your expertise to be part of the Mission - whether by participating in the projects we fund, applying to the ongoing call from the 2025 Work Programme, engaging with the Community of Practice managed by the Mission, or simply helping us raise awareness of the initiative and supporting us through your networks. Though the Mission will not be able to reach its objectives without the mobilisation of other funding sources at EU level and national level. Hence the importance of going beyond the walls of academic institutions to tie up with local authorities and experts in financing economic development.
If you believe our work is valuable, please communicate this to your national administration and representatives.
We need all available support as discussions on the next EU budget post-2027 are ongoing, and the future of the Mission is not guaranteed beyond 2027.
This community in ECCA, the group of people in this room, can bring us closer to success. Join us.
I with to thank the MAGICA consortium and JPI Climate for having organised three ECCAs and our host, Rimini. This conference started very well and I look forward to the rest of the day and tomorrow.
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