Pathway2Resilience

Background

Europe has a large adaptation finance gap. Subnational governments in Europe invested €8.3bn of adaptation in 2022, but annual adaptation needs to 2030 are estimated at between €16bn – 36bn, suggesting a gap of €8-28bn a year[1]. As such, the Adaptation Mission recognizes finance and resources as a Key Enabling Condition and seeks to use Mission funding to lever in greater public and private investment[2].

[1] Paul Watkiss Associates internal calculation. [2] European Commission (2021) Adaptation Mission Implementation Plan.

The Adaptation Investment Cycle

To help mobilise finance, and ensure that the Regional Resilience Journey leads to bankable projects (i.e. those that meet the conditions required by the financier to finance a project), the consortium has developed the Adaptation Investment Cycle – an iterative, 6 step process to develop Adaptation Investment Plans, designed to be completed as part of the Regional Resilience Journey. The Cycle develops the financial aspects of a Climate Resilience Strategy from the identification of adaptation needs and barriers to finance all the way to the implementation and monitoring of efficient adaptation project.

The process helps regions to identify the financing and investment needs for regional adaptation, and develop Investment strategies, Investment plans and a pipeline of bankable Investments to mobilise greater public, private and voluntary sector investment towards achieving their Climate Resilience Strategy, in a just and equitable way.

Further Information

In March 2025, Pathways2Resilience published the report "Developing Regional Climate Resilience Investment Plans and Project Pipelines. Implementation guidance to support regions through Adaptation Investment Cycle" . In addition to that, the project has developed detailed resources and templates to support the successful regions to apply it.

In the context of Pathways2Resilience’s work on regional adaptation finance, a Practitioner Finance Expert Working Group was assembled, acting as a liaison between regions and the broader financial assistance of Pathways2Resilience partners.