This new brochure highlights the funding opportunities for risk prevention from cohesion policy in the 2014-2020 period. It also showcases a number of good examples and explains how you can get support.
The European Union faces multiple risks, including floods and extreme weather events, pandemics and man-made disaster risks. The result is injury and loss of life. There is also the significant cost of damage, affecting stability and growth. Since 2005, natural disasters have cost the EU close to €100 billion.
Investing in risk prevention is more effective than bearing the cost of inaction and it is vital to preserve the capacity for further socio-economic development. In this respect, EU cohesion policy is key to disaster prevention and management.
With €8 billion for climate change adaptation and risk prevention and management, cohesion policy is one of the most important sources for funding in this area. Twenty Member States have selected risk prevention as a priority for the 2014-2020 funding period, depending on their specific needs. The investments will increase Europe's resilience to disasters and climate change. This includes protecting 13.3 million people from floods and 11.8 million from forest fires.