Global experts, policymakers, and stakeholders gathered for three days of intensive discussions on climate adaptation. The MAGICA project, coordinated by CMCC, organized the 6th European Climate Change Adaptation Conference (ECCA) together with JPI Climate and with the support of the European Commission. The conference covered themes like nature-based solutions, sea level rise, extreme climate events, and societal transformation.

With over 485 attendees in person and an additional 2,000 participants online, the ECCA2023 conference successfully convened a diverse group of global experts and stakeholders to advance climate adaptation solutions.

The event featured nearly 70 parallel sessions across three landmark venues. Attendees from various regions had the opportunity to exchange climate adaptation expertise, share successes and “learning experiences”, fostering collaboration between policy and decision-makers, researchers, funders, practitioners, and even artists to address the challenges posed by climate change.

More information about the conference can be found in a dedicated edition of the MAGICA newsletter.

The breadth and diversity of topics discussed during ECCA2023 reflected its key messages, covering areas such as collaboration, creativity, equality, implementation, tools, narratives, politics, finance, and communities. The six thematic topics at the conference included climate action support through platforms and services, adaptation responses to sea level rise and coastal change, nature-based solutions, preparing for extreme climate events, societal transformation by challenging assumptions, and climate and social resilience in the energy sector.

Discussions during ECCA2023 emphasized the power of nature in addressing climate impacts, featuring strategies like reforestation, ecosystem restoration, green infrastructure, and sustainable land management. The integration of climate change adaptation into European policy emerged as a central topic of discussion. Policymakers acknowledged the urgent need to incorporate adaptation measures into policies to safeguard diverse ecosystems and vulnerable communities from rising temperatures, sea-level rise, and erratic weather patterns. Climate finance’s role in supporting adaptation measures was also emphasized, providing dedicated funding for climate-related initiatives, promoting innovation, and enabling the implementation of climate-resilient infrastructure and capacity-building programs.

ECCA2023 proved to be instrumental in advancing climate adaptation solutions and will undoubtedly serve as a foundation for future actions in ECCA2025, to be held in Italy.

The 6th ECCA Conference is organised by Joint Programme Initiative “Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe” (JPI Climate), together with the MAGICA project, supported by the European Commission.

MAGICA is a 4-year transnational project launched in June 2022, funded by Horizon EU and is the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) for JPI Climate. MAGICA is coordinated by Giulia Galluccio of CMCC Foundation. It involves 24 organisations from 13 countries. It aims to accelerate the development, provision and exchange of knowledge from research and innovation to inform and support policy-making and climate actions.

JPI Climate, the Joint Programming Initiative “Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe,” is an initiative aimed at jointly coordinating European climate research and funding new transnational research activities.