Climate Adaptation Planning: The context of EU Cohesion Policy and Evidence from Urban Projects in Greece

As awareness of climate change increases, world-wide organizations such as the UN and the EU as well as individual countries, regions and cities undertake action to address the causes of the problem and its inevitable impacts. Since climate change impacts are mostly felt at the local (urban and regional) level, it is at this level to which climate adaptation measures are mostly applied. Cities appear to be extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in various sectors which concern their built and natural environment as well as their functions. This is especially true for metropolitan areas where the complexity of organizational and spatial structure intensifies the degree of vulnerability. Thus, developing comprehensive and integrated climate adaptation strategies is essential for cities and metropolitan areas. At the EU level, “Promoting climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management” is one out of eleven thematic objectives which EU cohesion policy funding addresses in the programming period 2014-20. The European Climate Adaptation Platform is a web-based tool that supports cities, regions and countries in implementing the EU climate policy, through scientific and operational instruments. Greek cities have to exploit this context in order to prepare climate adaptation strategies and implement climate adaptation interventions with the aim of enhancing climate proofing and resilience. This paper examines the above issues with an emphasis on EU funded urban climate projects in Greece, and seeks to identify potentialities for an integrated approach.