The EIB provided technical assistance services to help improve the city of Florence’s resilience to climate change through the development of targeted responses to climate-related risks. By reviewing existing feasibility studies and developing Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (CRVA) it was possible to identify viable adaptation options for existing and future projects.

The operation focused on a project concerning a retention basin situated within the city limits. Concretely, the EIB assisted in:

• coordinating all the project stakeholders;
• developing a simplified CRVA based on available climate data to identify climate risks and vulnerabilities;
• developing a project design/cost proposal for the project to be included in the tri-annual plan that the EIB is financing under a framework loan.

The EIB’s advice is expected to have a positive impact on the technical quality of the investments included in the current EIB Framework Loan as many of them were still at a relatively early stage. Future investment programmes are also expected to benefit. Furthermore, the project at the centre of this operation will form part of the city’s Climate Adaptation Strategy and the related action plan due for completion by 2019.