Expanding and improving the participation of companies and administrations in the fight against climate change and adaptation to new climatic conditions is the objective of the LIFE eCOadapt50 programme, a European initiative promoted and coordinated by the Barcelona Provincial Council, which has been selected as one of the eight strategic proposals of the new round of financing of the LIFE Program.
The European Commission has announced (March 10, 2023) the approval of contributions worth more than 116 million euros in eight strategic LIFE projects to be developed in Spain, Belgium, Estonia, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Finland in terms of climate and environment.
In addition to direct funding, the Commission expects approved projects to mobilize significant supplementary funds from other EU funding sources, such as agricultural, structural, regional and research funds, as well as national funds and private sector investment.
The funding is aimed at projects in four areas of action: conservation and recovery of nature, management and quality of water, mitigation of climate change and adaptation to climate change. Precisely the Spanish project belongs to this last category and will be financed with 11 million euros of an eligible budget of 18.6 million. LIFE eCOadapt50, which will be coordinated by the Barcelona Provincial Council, will increase awareness of adaptation to climate change through the participation of Administrations and companies in local strategies for adaptation to climate change.
The eCOadapt50 has the participation of more than twenty partners and will last 8 years.
“Local governments and economic activities often do not clearly perceive that the investments in adaptation to climate change that are promoted now will help reduce costs and losses in the future,” recalls the Barcelona Provincial Council. In addition to becoming aware of this reality, the eCOadapt50 program aims to increase resilience against the impacts of climate change in especially vulnerable territories and economic activities, such as the primary and tourism sectors. To make it a reality, this initiative, co-financed by the European Commission, aims to work “involving local administrations and economic agents”, highlights the Barcelona Provincial Council.
One of the objectives is to generate precise knowledge about the effects of climate change in these sectors: reduction in the quantity and quality of water, greater frequency of heat episodes, increased risk of fires, reduction in snowfall, changes in agricultural productivity and of the quality of the products, loss of biodiversity, changes in the soil, morphological changes in the coastline and in the sea level, as well as the reduction of the productivity of the fishing activity.
The eCOadapt50 is the fifth integrated strategic project awarded in Spain. This initiative promotes the coordination and mobilization of other financing funds. In this way, eCOadapt50 expects to mobilize a minimum of 73 million euros of complementary funds. In addition, the project will develop long-term actions and investments for its adaptation to climate change.
The Nature Strategic Projects and Integrated Strategic Projects build on the success of LIFE Integrated Projects, which were funded between 2014 and 2020.
Strategic Nature Projects and Strategic Integrated Projects support the implementation of EU environmental and climate law and policies at regional, multi-regional, national or transnational level. Strategic Nature Blueprints help EU countries integrate their nature and biodiversity policy objectives into other policies and financial instruments. Strategic Integrated Projects contribute to national, regional or sectoral GHG mitigation strategies and roadmaps towards a low carbon economy.
The projects will contribute to Europe becoming the first climate neutral continent in the world by 2050 and to the proper implementation of the European Green Deal. They also support the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the Nature Recovery Act, and help the transition to clean energy.
The LIFE Program is the EU funding instrument in the fields of environment and climate action. It has been putting green ideas into practice since 1992 and to date has co-financed more than 5,500 projects across the EU and in third countries. For the period 2021-2027, the European Commission has increased the financing of the LIFE Program by almost 60%, reaching the figure of 5,400 million euros, and has included the new clean energy transition subprogramme. The LIFE Program is managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
