ClimateAdaptation.Company.NRW

The negative effects of climate change, such as heat, drought or heavy rainfall events, pose an increasing challenge for companies and the public water supply in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state and the EU are providing funding for climate change-related measures in order to secure economic activities in the long term and develop the economy in a climate-resilient manner.

The funding measure specifically supports small and medium-sized enterprises and municipal utilities in adapting their sites and technical facilities to the negative consequences of climate change and making them more climate-resilient. The aim of the funding is to strengthen the future viability and competitiveness of the funded companies and thus the economy as a whole in North Rhine-Westphalia.

For the climate adaptation of buildings or structures, nature-based solutions for protection against extreme weather events and their consequences are promoted in particular. These include measures for shading or creating evaporative cooling, restoring natural soil exchange processes and measures for the infiltration, evaporation, storage, retention and harmless drainage of rainwater. The planting of roofs or unsealed areas should primarily be carried out with native species - and thus contribute to more biodiversity.

The measures listed below and a combination of several measures are eligible for funding:

• Green roofs and façades, with priority given to sowing native species, retention roofs (blue roofs) or retention green roofs (green-blue roofs)
• Tree infiltration systems, tree and shrub planting, with priority given to native species and orchards
• Unsealing of surfaces, Infiltration systems (e.g. retention areas/swales, overgrown ditches) and rainwater retention, storage and utilization measures for the irrigation of green spaces, such as rainwater retention basins, retention ponds, percolation ponds, infiltration trenches, retention cisterns or similar as well as near-natural water bodies
• Nature-based flood measures, nature-based measures to protect against flooding and heavy rainfall
• Windbreak hedges, priority native species
• Construction of shading systems (e.g. external sun protection)
• Naturally designed above-ground water supply lines and emergency waterways