69 European regions share tools to assess climate risk at regional and local levels
In a context of climate change, how will areas at risk of wildfires evolve? What about projections of extreme rainfall or the frequency and intensity of heatwaves? A total of 69 regions and municipalities from 23 European countries have received support and funding from the EU to design adaptation and emergency response plans at the regional and local levels. On 11 June, more than 150 representatives from these regions and municipalities gathered in Barcelona for the CLIMAAX workshop, co-coordinated by the UPC’s Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology (CRAHI).
Jun 20, 2025
The CLIMAAX project workshop took place on 11 June and was an opportunity to discuss challenges, learn about success stories in climate risk assessment and share knowledge.
CLIMAte risk and vulnerability Assessment framework and toolboX (CLIMAAX) is a four-year project funded by the Horizon Europe programme that aims to provide technical and financial support to improve climate risk assessment and the management of weather-related emergencies worsened by climate change at a regional level.
Catalonia is one of five European pilot regions for the project, alongside Latvia, Setúbal (Portugal), Žilina (Slovakia) and Finland, selected to develop and implement the support tools for climate risk assessments provided by the CLIMAAX project.
Over the past two years, CLIMAAX has gathered and developed data, methodologies and tools to carry out climate risk assessments, including hazards like floods, heatwaves, wildfires and heavy rainfall. Currently, 69 regions and municipalities across Europe have received funding to implement these tools in their territories to adapt to various hazards.
The workshop, held at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum in Barcelona, marked the first in-person meeting of the 69 regions and municipalities selected for the project. These territories, which have already begun conducting their own climate risk assessments, will collectively receive over 12 million euros under the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. The Centre of Applied Research in Hydrometeorology (CRAHI) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) coordinates the implementation process at the European level and leads the third-party financial support mechanism used by the European Commission to transfer funds to non-consortium entities.
Catalonia, a pilot region
The five pilot regions, including Catalonia—with diverse climate conditions representing different risk profiles—have shared their needs and challenges in risk management and climate change adaptation to develop a theoretical framework and toolbox. This toolkit is designed to facilitate the creation and implementation of regional climate risk assessment plans to respond more effectively to climate emergencies.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101093864.
The Directorate General for Civil Protection (DGPC) of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of Catalonia and the UPC’s CRAHI have worked to analyse how wildfires, flash floods and heatwaves will develop in terms of duration, frequency and intensity under climate change scenarios. The goal of the DGPC is to gather regional evidence to inform policy and invest resources in climate adaptation. The results of the study are expected to be applied to civil protection plans to improve prevention and response to extraordinary emergencies.