The LIFE Climate Award honours outstanding projects that are aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The LIFE Climate Award honours outstanding projects that are aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation. The LIFE METRO ADAPT project was announced as the winner in this category by Tony Rinaudo, Natural Resources Management Specialist and Agronomist. ‘The three finalists today exhibit the impact of positive action necessary to tackle climate, environment and nature issues,’ he said. ‘I believe that their work will give hope and inspire many more individuals and organisations to follow in their footsteps.’
The Mediterranean basin is particularly impacted by climate change through the urban heat island effect, urban soil sealing, and surface run-off. This is more pronounced in cities, where vulnerable people are mostly affected. LIFE METRO ADAPT has mainstreamed climate change adaptation strategies and measures in the new Territorial Plan of the Metropolitan City of Milan (Piano territoriale metropolitano – PTM) in Italy, which covers 133 municipalities. The project also implemented two nature-based solutions (NBS) and tested innovative methods to enhance bottom-up initiatives related to climate change adaptation, including interactive and educational actions.
Michela Palestra, Deputy Mayor of Milan, accepted the LIFE award on behalf of the project. ‘We are running out of time,’ she said. ‘And we have to act together with nature and use nature-based solutions.’
This ground-breaking initiative focuses on mainstreaming climate change adaptation strategies within the Metropolitan City of Milan, particularly addressing the Po Valley’s vulnerability to rising temperatures, water stress, and extreme weather events. With an emphasis on nature-based solutions, such as minimising flooding risks and mitigating the urban heat island effect, LIFE METRO ADAPT has successfully engaged citizens and transformed policymaking.
The open source Metro Adapt Platform provides citizens and policy makers with detailed data on heat islands, risks to vulnerable residents, surface run-off potential, and critical hydraulic hazard events. Overall, the project made a significant contribution to the PTM, providing datasets to each municipality that can be used as a foundation for the Covenant of Mayors Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). The Platform also provides guidelines on accessing funding at various levels and disseminates legal standards and rules.
The two other outstanding finalists in the Climate category were LIFE Peat Restore, a project aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by restoring peatlands, and U-MOB LIFE, a project creating a network for sustainable mobility at European Universities.
LINK TO VIDEO AWARDS WEBSTREAM EU GREEN WEEK 2023 – Streaming Service of the European Commission (europa.eu)
