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Climate adaptation is a collaborative effort

Day three at ECCA 2025 was all about collaboration and coordinated effort among institutions, public authorities, and stakeholders at all levels, towards the common good of enhancing resilience in our communities and cities. Adapting to climate change means aligning scientific insight with governance, finance, urban planning, and community voices. It also requires collaboration among different disciplines, with climate scientists collaborating with designers, architects, health experts, biologists, and even artists to bridge the gap between science and communities.

No adaptation without community engagement

The key takeaway from day two at ECCA2025 is simple: communities need to be involved in the entire adaptation process. Not just as recipients of information, but as active partners that help shape solutions. “This is all about people,” says Philippe Tulkens of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. It’s not about top-down strategies, but about building trust, enabling dialogue, and overcoming barriers together. Engagement is a two-way process that involves listening, adapting, and co-creating. The second day of ECCA was rich with discussions on engagement, trust, and resilience.

European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2025_day one

The time is now: the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2025 has begun

Adaptation to climate change is not an issue of the future, it’s an imminent need that requires an effective action plan. Day one at ECCA2025 laid the groundwork for finding the most innovative solutions to tackle climate change – and how to implement them with effective policies. High-level representatives from European institutions, the business community, and the scientific world engaged in conversations on adaptation and plenary panels outlining the strategies, challenges and hopes for future adaptation before a crowd of 600+ people from all over the world.

From research to climate solutions: Lessons from the Sahel drought

What are the causes of drought in the American dust belt or the Sahelian savanna? Are local practices to blame or should we be looking at broader climatic factors? Through an exploration of the causes and consequences of the Sahelian drought of the late 20th-century, Professor Alessandra Giannini explores the interplay between local and global factors and how attribution studies can have profound implications for adaptation efforts in the Sahel and beyond.

Overshoot: Navigating the challenges of exceeding global warming limits

The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C has become a cornerstone of international climate policy. However, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change intensify, surpassing this threshold is looking increasingly likely, if not inevitable. This scenario raises urgent questions about the risks involved, the feasibility of returning to safer temperature levels, and the social and economic trade-offs associated with such pathways. New tools and research, such as CMCC’s overshoot platform based on the work of an international team of scientists and design experts, can help answer these questions.

From risk to resilience

Resilience has shifted from being a matter of choice to an imperative. From climate disasters to failing infrastructure, the ability to withstand and recover from shocks is now at the heart of decision-making. Yet, despite its critical importance, there is still no universal definition for resilience and its relationship with risk. Dr Igor Linkov, a distinguished expert in risk prevention and management, walks us through methods for resilience quantification and how these can help transform fragmented approaches to risk management into coordinated strategies.

COP16 in Rome: Bridging the biodiversity finance gap

The COP16 on Biological Diversity reconvened at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome between 25 and 27 February, providing a critical juncture for global biodiversity conservation and the role of science in informing international negotiations. “Until we establish governance that treats climate and biodiversity as two sides of the same crisis, we will continue to fail in finding effective solutions,” says CMCC researcher Cristina Cipriano, who participated in the proceedings as coordinator of the European Regional Chapter and the Italian National Chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network.

How climate change is reshaping the insurance landscape

The rising threats posed by extreme weather and climate events are challenging the way insurers approach at-risk areas. From wildfires in California, USA, to flooding in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, coordinated efforts are needed to create innovative insurance solutions. “The future of insurance will depend on solutions that do more than just compensate for damage – they must actively help reduce exposure to risk,” says CMCC researcher Guido Rianna.

CoastPredict: Coastal science at the heart of global transformation

Oceans play a central role in the climate system and the way they interact with coastlines leads to both great opportunities and some of the most pressing hazards concerning climate scientists. “Rising sea levels, intensifying storms, marine pollution, and coastal erosion highlight the need to improve our understanding of coastal systems and our ability to manage risks effectively,” says CMCC Strategy Council member and co-chair of CoastPredict, Nadia Pinardi.

It’s a wrap! The climate in 2024

As 2024 comes to a close we look back at the most important climate events, meetings, negotiations and initiatives from the last twelve months. Our research and data, articles and projects reveal a year that has been rich with developments and change in both the climate itself and what we can expect from the future.

US elections and the power to make or break climate finance

From Obama to Trump, then Biden and Trump again. The US presidents who have come and gone over the past quarter century have brought different visions and policies when it comes to climate finance. Leveraging her experience in policy analysis of international environmental and climate agreements, CMCC researcher Semercioglu Nazlicicek outlines the history of US contributions to loss and damage funding and what we can expect from a second Trump term in office.

Back from the enabling COP: Negotiators analyze outcomes from Baku

Climate finance was front and center, while a leading actor was relegated to a sideline role. In a CMCC webinar, negotiators returning from Baku take stock of key aspects of COP29, such as the complex context of the negotiations, decisions on the New Collective Quantified Goal, the Baku-to-Belem roadmap, news on the carbon market, global cooperation, and adaptation. Throughout, it emerges that bridging scientific insights with policy is more essential than ever to transform commitments into meaningful climate action.

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