Horizon Europe - EU Mission- Adaptation to Climate Change

EU Missions aim to address some of the greatest challenges facing our society. They set clear, measurable, and time-bound targets, to focus and integrate actions towards common goals. Rooted in research and innovation, Missions aim to tackle societal challenges with systemic solutions, leading to societal transformations and social impact. Horizon Europe identified five Mission Areas where challenges could be effectively addressed in a Mission-based approach. Within these areas, the following five EU Missions were defined using the Mission criteria of the Horizon Europe legal base and formally launched through a Commission Communication in September 2021 1 together with implementation plans laying down their detailed objectives, specific interventions, investment strategy and performance indicators for each Mission 2 : • Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions, local authorities and communities to become climate resilient by 2030

Adaptation to Climate Change: Supporting the implementation of the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change Political context In February 2021, the European Commission adopted a EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change that sets out how the EU can adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and become climate resilient by 2050. Pushing further on the belief that we must adjust now to tomorrow's climate, the EU has launched, in the same year, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change to support at least 150 regions and local authorities to become climate-resilient by 2030. Since the start of the Mission, the European Commission confirmed its strategic importance and the potential strength of its approach to accelerate the transformation to a climate-resilient Europe32. It also acknowledged that the Mission can serve as a best practice for all interested parties, and that it will be further leveraged33 . In March 2024, the European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), published by the European Environment Agency, has further stressed the need to ramp up adaptation efforts in Europe. The Commission Communication ‘Managing climate risks: protecting people and prosperity’, also published in March 2024, sets out how the EU and its Member States can better anticipate, understand, and address growing climate risks. The urgency and importance of stepping up preparedness and adaptation is reflected in the Political Guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029 which call the European Commission to develop a European Climate Adaptation Plan (ECAP), scheduled for the second half of 2026. In this context, the Mission appears to be the perfect vehicle to support pioneering efforts on climate adaptation at the regional and local levels and to develop and facilitate the take-up of ready-to-use knowledge and tools for climate action. A regional approach Regional and local authorities are the end-users of the Mission. By signing the Mission Charter, more than 325 regional and local authorities have committed to working together to transition faster to a climate resilient Europe. Some regional and local authorities in Europe are well prepared to climate change, others are striving for solutions to address their climate risks. The Mission aims to support as a priority less developed regional and local authorities that are more vulnerable to climate impacts and have low adaptive capacity. The Mission fosters, by the mean of the Mission Implementation Platform and its Community of Practice, the sharing of experiences and lessons learnt from others, accompanying regions and local authorities in finding and possibly reapplying solutions adapted to their climatic situation and socio-economic context. Regional and local authorities already engaged in the Mission activities (e.g. Charter Signatories, Community of Practice) have already proven their commitment and motivation to work towards the objectives of the Mission and, as such, they provide ideal sites where the testing and demonstration of innovative approaches could take place. However, the actions supported by these calls are open to all actors from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries, in line with Horizon Europe rules of participation. Research and innovation Rooted in research and innovation, the Mission aims to align towards its concrete objectives all relevant actors and stakeholders to deliver tangible solutions and concrete impacts by 2030. The R&I support is provided in different ways: 1. Further support European regional and local authorities to better understand, prepare for and manage climate risks and opportunities, especially in view the large need demonstrated in the early phase of the Mission; 2. Step up support towards at least 150 regional and local authorities to accelerate their transformation to a climate resilient future, supporting them in the co-creation of innovation pathways and the testing of solutions; 3. Demonstrate systemic transformations to climate resilience contributing to deliver at least 75 large-scale demonstrations of systemic transformations to climate resilience across European regional and local authorities. To be successful, the Mission needs to mobilise all relevant actors -- research institutes, industry, investors, civil society and citizens -- to create real and lasting impact and to accelerate their transformation to a fair and climate-resilient society that leaves no-one behind. In the spirit of the Mission, all proposals should also adopt a participatory approach that fully considers the local dimension of climate change and entails collaboration and engagement with the local communities that are affected by climate impacts. Therefore, engagement of citizens should be embedded in the design and/or implementation of the Mission’s solutions. It should be noted that Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines are at the heart of the Mission and therefore, many of the Mission topics require the effective contribution and inclusion of SSH disciplines and experts. Strategic direction for 2026-2027

hase, where all its different streams of actions have been put in motion, to full deployment. With its calls for 2026 & 2027, the Adaptation Mission will (i) provide continuity by maintaining the support structure already in place, (ii) focus on synergies with other initiatives and other parts of Horizon Europe and (iii) lay the ground to scale up R&I results. Implementing the focus on synergies, there are a series of actions that do not appear in this part of the work programme, but to which the Adaptation Mission has contributed financially. The joint actions for 2026 are: • Accelerator Challenge: Deep tech for Climate Adaptation. The Adaptation Mission supports an accelerator challenge together with the European Innovation Council with the aim to achieve common objectives and synergies in the field of climate adaptation. The Challenge is located in the Work Programme 2026 part of the European Innovation Council. (Adaptation Mission contribution of EUR 25 million to the European Innovation Council for a total budget to EUR 50 million). • HORIZON-MISS-2026-06-CLIMA-SOIL: Joint demonstration of solutions to build soil resilience to extreme weather events and support food security. The Adaptation Mission supports this topic together with the Soil Mission. These innovation actions are located in the Joint Calls of the Mission of the Work Programme. (Adaptation Mission Contribution of EUR 10 million for a total budget to EUR 20 million). • Financial contribution to the Climate City Capital Hub, listed under “Specific Grant Agreement to the FPA to reinforce the operations of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission Platform” in the 2026 Work Programme Part of the Cities Mission. (Adaptation Mission Contribution of EUR 10 million to work on adaptation financing in support of the signatories of the Adaptation Mission).