EU Funding for Disaster Risk Management
EU funding supports activities leading to improved disaster prevention and preparedness, shared knowledge and expertise, good practices and networking, and research and innovation in disaster risk management.
Between 1980 and 2020, natural disasters caused an average annual economic loss of €12 billion in the EU, affecting nearly 50 million people. With the effects of climate change, the impacts of flood, wildfire, and extreme heat are increasing rapidly. The economic losses could then rise to €170 billion per year, making a stronger need for prevention and preparedness initiatives evident.
Not only are these efforts essential in reducing disaster losses, investing in prevention and preparedness is also economically beneficial. A joint report of DG ECHO and the World Bank shows that the benefit-cost ratio of investments in resilient infrastructure generally lies between 2 and 10 for a range of different hazards, meaning that the cost of an investment will pay off 2 to 10 times in case of a natural disaster. In conclusion, the benefits of investing in prevention and preparedness measures for floods, earthquakes, heatwaves, and wildfires can substantially outweigh the costs of such projects.
Below, some of the main funding opportunities for disaster risk management, prevention and preparedness projects are highlighted.
Key funding sources
Knowledge for Action in Prevention & Preparedness
This new UCPKN flagship activity aims at identifying and co-financing projects seeking to strengthen cooperation among EU Member States and UCPM Participating States on disaster prevention, preparedness and full-scale field exercises in pursuit of the of the Union Disaster Resilience Goals.
Horizon Europe: 'A Disaster Resilient Society for Europe'
Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
Knowledge for Action in Prevention & Preparedness
The Knowledge for Action in Prevention and Preparedness (KAPP) call for proposals aims to identify and co-finance projects strengthening cooperation among EU Member Member and UCPM Participating States on disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as providing a testing environment and a learning opportunity for all actors involved in civil protection assistance interventions, through full-scale field exercises.
Example criteria for the 2023 call:
Topics: Topic 1: Prevention, Topic 2: Preparedness, Topic 3: Full-scale exercises
Available budget: €7 million for Topic 1, €5 million for Topic 2, and €3 million for Topic 3. Projects in Topics 1 and 2 may be awarded grants of a minimum of €400 000. Projects in Topic 3 may receive grants with a minimum amount of €500 000 with a maximum contribution of €1 000 000 for projects in all Topics.
Eligibility: Consortia formed by legal entities (public or private bodies) established in one of the eligible countries. For all call topics, this includes EU Member States and UCPM Participating States. For Topics 1 and 2, additionally, Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) beneficiary countries and European Neighbourhood Policy countries are eligible.
Horizon Europe - Cluster 3: 'Civil Security for Society'
Horizon Europe is the EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly EUR 95.5 billion of funding for 7 years (2021-2027). Within the Cluster 3: 'Civil Security for Society', the destination 'A Disaster Resilient Society for Europe' offers funding opportunities for prevention and preparedness projects. Other initiatives may also be eligible under Horizon Cluster 5: 'Climate, Energy and Mobility', where actions such as extreme weather preparedness or climate adaptation can apply for funding.
Example criteria for the 2023 call:
Topics: Citizens’ Preparedness, Harmonisation of Crisis Management, Training Centres, Robotics, Increased Technology
Available budget: €27.5 million
Eligibility: Organizations from EU Member States or Horizon associated countries
Other funding opportunities
Common Agricultural Policy Funds
Under the Common Agricultural Policy Funds, EU member states can support preventive and restorative actions against natural disasters
and catastrophic events through investments in preventive infrastructure and practices as well as risk management tools. Concrete funding opportunities can be identified through the strategic plan of each member state.
European Regional Development Fund
The ERDF aims to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. Depending on the regional operational programmes, different actions, for example, in environmental management, societal resilience or risk reduction can be financed.
Environment and Climate action - LIFE
The LIFE Project 'Climate change mitigation and adaptation' sub-programme aims to support projects that contribute to increased resilience to climate change. This could include, for example, climate-proofing, supporting adaptive approaches to water scarcity, resilience to forest fires or many other initiatives.
Interreg : European Territorial Co-operation
The European Territorial Cooperation supports joint actions between actors from different member states in cross-border, transnational and interregional dimensions. Through this programme common challenges can be addressed, such as environment, public health or safety and security.
Digital Europe Programme
The Digital Europe Programme provides funding to projects which aim to widen the scope of digital technologies across society. In the area of disaster management, for example, efforts to strengthen resilience in cybersecurity as well as early warning systems may be covered by the work programme.
EU4Health
The EU4Health programme support projects that tackle issues of cross-border health threats, disease prevention and health promotion. As a response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this programme funds international health initiatives by EU Member States to encourage cooperation between states.