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.
UCPM 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.
Technical Assistance for Disaster Risk Management
This funding instrument provides financial support to the national disaster risk management authorities of Member States and other participating states in the UCPM for the development of strategic activities, which can leverage investments for greater disaster risk management impact.
Technical Assistance Financing Facility for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness
This new funding instrument enables national civil protection and disaster risk management authorities to access technical assistance and global knowledge on prevention and preparedness to support country and EU efforts on disaster risk management.
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 2024 call:
Topics: Topic 1: Prevention, Topic 2: Preparedness, Topic 3: Full-scale exercises
Available budget: €6 million for Topic 1, €4 million for Topic 2, and €4 million for Topic 3. Projects may be awarded grants of a minimum of €400 000 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.
Technical Assistance for Disaster Risk Management
The Technical assistance for disaster risk management funding instrument provides financial support to the national disaster risk management authorities of Member States and other participating states in the UCPM for the development of strategic activities (including feasibility studies, proposals, policies and plans), which can leverage investments for greater disaster risk management impact.
Example criteria for the 2024 call:
Call priorities: Priority 1: Strategic frameworks for disaster risk management, Priority 2: Investments for disaster risk management, Priority 3: Investments to improve crisis management capabilities
Available budget: The available call budget is EUR 6 000 000.
Eligibility: The call is open for applications by national disaster risk management authorities of eligible countries. This includes EU Member States and UCPM Participating States as well as Georgia and Kosovo.
Technical Assistance Financing Facility for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness
The Technical Assistance Financing Facility for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness (TAFF) supports projects, studies and training in disaster and climate resilience and promotes the sharing of knowledge among countries on disaster risk management. This funding insrument is a coorporation between artnership between the European Commission (DG ECHO), the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).
Example criteria for the 2024 call:
Priority areas: The key areas of support for TAFF are aligned with the Union Disaster Resilience Goals: Anticipate, Prepare, Alert and Secure. The two components of the call cover country-specific technical assistance as well as knowledge and capacity building.
Available budget: EUR 6 million for both component combined
Eligibility: National level civil protection authorities or authorities with disaster risk management responsibilities of EU Member States, Participating States of the UCPM, and Georgia and Kosovo in view of their ongoing efforts to join the UCPM are eligible to apply.
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
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.
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.
DG ECHO Successful Stories Booklet
DG ECHO Successful Stories
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