Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

The smallest of the four sub-programmes by budget, and at the same time the one most tightly bound to plans and policies rather than to individual assets.

Three strands

Mitigation – cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors outside the emissions trading system: buildings, transport, agriculture, waste management.

Adaptation – reducing the vulnerability of territories to the effects of climate change: urban heat, drought, flooding, coastal erosion.

Governance and information – the capacity of public authorities to plan climate policy and carry it through to delivery.

Why municipal projects win here

Adaptation is by definition tied to a territory, so the strongest applications come from cities and regions that already have a sustainable energy and climate action plan and can point to the specific commitment in it that the project delivers.

An application that opens with a global problem and never reaches a particular street, district or catchment is not competitive in this sub-programme.