The Basque Country has shared its experience in climate adaptation at the final event of LIFE IP NAdapta-CC
30/10/2025
In Pamplona, Ihobe's Director of Climate Action, Mª Mar Alonso Martín, presented the main lines of work and the progress made in the Basque Country in terms of adaptation to climate change, highlighting the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project or the KAIA initiative.
During the final event of the LIFE IP NAdapta-CC project, held in Pamplona on 24th October, Ihobe's Director of Climate Action, Mª Mar Alonso Martín, took part in a session focused on the exchange of adaptation to climate change experiences, such as the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project. This event was in addition to the regular contact that both projects have had during their respective periods of implementation to exchange experiences and good practices in the deployment of actions in the field of climate action.
During her speech, Mª Mar Alonso Martín underlined the Basque Country's track record in terms of adaptation to climate change, backed by solid planning and a constantly evolving regulatory framework, culminating in the recent Energy Transition and Climate Change Act.
Alonso highlighted that collaborative projects, such as LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050, are a key tool for the deployment of climate action adapted to the regional scale, as they enable innovative, replicable and knowledge-sharing solutions to be put into practice. Among the actions deployed by Urban Klima 2050, Alonso pointed out the importance of nature-based solutions (NBS) as a fundamental pillar of adaptation policies in the Basque Country, with more than a hundred projects implemented by more than 50 municipalities in the territory.
During her presentation, she also announced the different lines of strategic action that will make up the adaptation pillar of the next Long-Term Roadmap for Energy Transition and Climate Change in the Basque Country, aimed at reinforcing the resilience of the territory in light of climate risks.
Alonso also highlighted the interdepartmental coordination table called KAIA (Klima Aldaketaren InpaktuA), approved by the Basque Government in June 2025, which will enable the necessary public and private actors to be incorporated in order to deploy five climate adaptation demonstration projects with an investment of €27.5 million. These include the actions to be carried out in Bakio and Zarautz within the framework of LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050.
In the case of Bakio, work has recently begun on the River Estepona to create an inland marsh and a floodable forest to increase flood safety in the urban area and hence increase the municipality’s climate resilience. In Zarautz, the remodelling of the Narros-Munoa area has been planned to adapt the urban waterfront to the rise in sea level and the risk of waves as a result of climate change.
LIFE IP NAdapta-CC, eight years and 53 actions to adapt Navarra to climate change
The LIFE IP NAdapta-CC project ends after eight years in which it has deployed an integrated strategy for adaptation to climate change promoted by the Regional Government of Navarra, with the aim of increasing the resilience of the territory to its effects. It is based on cross-sectoral collaboration, long-term sustainability, social participation and networking. The project contributes towards implementing all of the actions contemplated in Navarra's Climate Change Roadmap (HCCN-KLINa), integrating the fight against climate change into all sectoral policies.
