With the intensifying climate crisis, cities and regions face a dual challenge: reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change. (adaptation). Despite clear links between the two approaches, they are often treated as separate, sometimes even competing, priorities in policy frameworks, funding structures and governance mechanisms. The European Union's flagship initiatives – the Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities ('Mission Cities') and the Mission for Climate Change Adaptation ('Mission Adaptation') – offer a key opportunity to bridge this gap.

The Thematic Working Group (TWG) on the Integration of Mitigation and Adaptation sought to address this gap by fostering dialogue, knowledge exchange and collaboration among policymakers, practitioners and researchers. Through a series of workshops and discussions, the group identified key gaps and opportunities for integrating these two fundamental aspects of climate action. This draft position paper summarises the lessons learned from the participatory discussions and shared experiences. It highlights that mitigation and adaptation are not always distinct or isolated processes, but rather synergistic and can be linked at multiple levels.

Without strategic coordination, efforts risk not only wasting valuable opportunities for a faster and more cost-effective process, but also maladaptation support, which ultimately exacerbates vulnerability and undermines long-term climate resilience. An example of a positive interaction is a mangrove restoration project to protect against coastal flooding. While it provides adaptive benefits to communities, unlike stand-alone seawalls, it also acts as a carbon sink, thereby supporting mitigation efforts. Conversely, the construction of seawalls, while effective in the short term, can provide a false sense of security and encourage construction activities that generate emissions (a negative mitigation impact) in areas that could otherwise be covered by natural carbon sinks (a positive mitigation impact).

At the EU mission level, a key challenge in unlocking further synergistic results is how the Cities Mission and the Adaptation Mission are currently organised. Local and regional governments perceive them as too separate initiatives with clearly different ecosystems, governance, funding structures and processes. This makes it difficult and time-consuming for them to develop climate strategies integrating both approaches.

Nevertheless, some local and regional governments have started to take measures to improve integration. Valencia for example, through its Valencia 2030 Climate Mission, it has developed a governance model designed to maximise synergies. It has created Valencian Collaboration Space, which supports multi-level governance and shared decision-making. Examples of synergies they identified include integrating urban greening projects into mobility decarbonisation initiatives, linking energy communities with building renovation, creating climate shelters and supporting sustainable agriculture. Valencia has also included adaptation elements in its 2023 Climate City Pact. Another example is Sweden, which integrated adaptation into its national Climate City Pacts, originally focused only on mitigation, in response to the demands of the 23 cities that signed the pacts in 2021.

The TWG calls on European institutions to help promote closer integration. Among opportunities includes:

• Raising awareness and building technical expertise on synergies between mitigation and adaptation, especially for local and regional governments. Platforms for mutual learning and dissemination of case studies should be expanded.
• Development of permanent integrated EU programming, for example through joint mission calls, to ensure that integration remains a priority beyond policy cycles.
• Designing more targeted funds and finances, which support cross-sectoral cooperation. A great example is City Climate Capital Hub, a project preparation facility that encourages cities to design plans and projects addressing both mitigation and adaptation and connects them to financial resources (private and public sector, green finance, bonds, loans). It is essential to scale up this work and secure funding for specialized local staff able to navigate synergies and unlock finance for both types of projects.

Integration requires coordination at different levels of governance, from local to EU level, and a move away from the rigid distinction between mitigation (traditionally seen as a global responsibility) and adaptation (seen as a localized problem). (More on futurium.ec.europa.eu) Spring

Glossary of key terms

• Mitigation: Measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change or increasing carbon sinks.
• Adaptation: Measures aimed at adapting to existing or expected impacts of climate change in order to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience.
• Synergies: The collaboration or interaction of different elements that create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts; in this context, actions in the areas of mitigation and adaptation that reinforce each other.
• Maladaptation: An adaptation measure or decision that leads to an increase in vulnerability to climate change rather than a reduction.
• Climate-neutral and smart cities mission (Cities Mission): One of the EU's flagship initiatives aimed at helping cities achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
• Climate Change Adaptation Mission: One of the EU's flagships aimed at helping regions adapt to the impacts of climate change.
• Thematic Working Group (TWG): A group of experts and stakeholders focused on a specific topic; in this case, the integration of mitigation and adaptation.
• Climate City Contract: A formal agreement created by cities as part of initiatives such as the Mission for Cities, representing the city's commitment to achieving climate neutrality and including an action plan, an investment plan, and a governance and participation plan.
• Multi-level governance: Governance that involves cooperation and coordination between different levels of government (e.g. local, regional, national, EU).
• Nature-Based Solutions (NBS): Measures that use ecosystems and natural processes to address societal challenges such as climate change, while also providing biodiversity and social benefits.
• City Climate Capital Hub: A project preparation and financing facility for cities participating in the Mission for Cities, which supports integrated mitigation and adaptation projects and connects cities with financial resources.
• Blended finance models: A combination of public and private funding sources to support projects.