Ricardo is helping to accelerate Europe’s transformation to a climate-resilient future

Building on its international expertise in climate adaptation, Ricardo is delivering adaptation planning and resilience support to Europe’s regions and local authorities.
 
Ricardo, a global strategic environmental and engineering consulting company, is leading the EU Mission Implementation Platform for Adaptation to Climate Change (MIP4Adapt), providing support to the European Commission and everyone delivering the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.  
 
The Mission is focused on supporting European regions and local authorities to accelerate their adaptation to climate change and building climate resilience. This is of vital importance given the fact that the impacts of climate change are already happening, and more regularly – as evidenced by extreme weather events already increasing in magnitude and frequency which are having direct and indirect impacts on our environment, society, and economy. In turn, these impacts may increasingly lead to transnational spill-over effects on international trade, resource competition, regional conflict, migration, and the spread of pests and diseases.  

 Ricardo’s experts across Europe are working closely with the European Commission in delivering MIP4Adapt – which is the result of a public procurement process - with the work commitment starting in 2023 and running until 2025. MIP4Adapt’s core team also includes experts from: Fresh Thoughts Consulting, Icatalist, the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and Environment – FEDARENE, and Joanneum Research, as well as experts from across Europe able to deliver technical assistance to the regional and local authorities in all 27 EU Member States. 
 
In leading MIP4Adapt, Ricardo is facilitating the development of a community of practice to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences and enable regional and local authorities across Europe to strengthen coordination and collaboration around climate adaptation. The community includes the 308 regional and local authorities that are signatories to the Mission Charter, covers approximately 40% of Europe’s land area and population, and is committed to striving towards climate resilience by 2030. In addition, it comprises relevant EU-funded research and innovation projects, the European Commission and other relevant European institutions, national authorities, and Friends of the Mission, including research institutions and businesses.  
 
Through MIP4Adapt, Ricardo is also delivering technical assistance to the regional and local authorities that are Charter signatories. This includes helping them to: develop their climate adaptation plans; identify appropriate climate adaptation demonstration projects; identify and access suitable finance and funding for implementation of their plans and demonstration projects; and stimulate engagement and mobilisation of citizens and stakeholders in climate adaptation. 
 
Richard Smithers, Director of MIP4Adapt and Ricardo’s international lead on climate adaptation said: “Ricardo’s delivery of MIP4Adapt builds upon our support for the European Commission over the last decade regarding development and implementation of the EU Adaptation Strategy. It also draws on Ricardo’s wide-ranging experience of supporting all aspects of climate adaptation planning at all scales in over 40 countries beyond Europe, and on the expertise of our wider team. Through our leadership of MIP4Adapt, our desire is to help to amplify the Mission’s overall impact across Europe, so it is greater than the sum of individual actions.”