From various programs under the current European Union financial perspective, more than PLN 11 billion will be allocated to building climate resilience in Polish cities and municipalities. The need for increased investment in this area stems from the growing frequency of extreme weather events and the increasingly severe consequences they bring. As part of a new edition of the climate change adaptation program, with a call for applications launched in December 2025, cities and municipalities in Eastern Poland can apply for grants. In total, over PLN 200 million will be allocated to them, among other purposes, for the development of green and blue infrastructure and other projects aimed at mitigating the effects of droughts, floods, and heatwaves.
The program—run by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and financed through European Funds for Eastern Poland—is targeted at local governments from six eastern voivodeships (Lubelskie, part of Mazowieckie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmińsko-Mazurskie). Eligible beneficiaries include, among others, medium-sized cities (20,000–100,000 inhabitants), spa municipalities, and selected cities in the Podlaskie region with more than 10,000 residents.
“There are regions in Poland that require special support and additional funding. For flood protection, drought mitigation, and safeguarding infrastructure against the effects of hurricanes and strong winds, municipalities can obtain non-repayable grants covering up to 85% of project costs,”
emphasizes Urszula Zielińska, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, in an interview with the Newseria news agency.
The program covers a broad range of investments. Local governments can apply for funding for stormwater retention systems, management of floodplains, de-sealing urban surfaces, the creation of so-called “sponge cities,” as well as pocket parks, green squares, and solutions that improve the microclimate in densely built-up urban areas. As the Ministry of Climate and Environment stresses, a key advantage is that projects can combine flood prevention and drought mitigation with improvements in residents’ quality of life.
“Projects should build on what is easiest to use within a given municipality or city. These are often the simplest, nature-based solutions. If we have trees in the city center, let’s not replace them with concrete squares—that is no longer a solution for our times. Concrete plazas mean several degrees more heat in summer, while trees provide several degrees of cooling and relief for residents and the urban microclimate,”
says Urszula Zielińska.
In the first two calls under the program, PLN 413 million was already allocated to 24 adaptation projects in 18 localities. The new call runs from 15 December 2025 to 16 March 2026.
The financial support is intended to overcome one of the main barriers faced by local governments—limited financial capacity to implement adaptation projects. The new edition of the program forms part of a broader package of instruments supporting cities in adapting to changing weather conditions.
“In total, within the current EU financial perspective, we have secured over PLN 11 billion across various programs dedicated to building resilience to climate change and enhancing climate security. As a government, we talk a lot about building security, and we must not forget that this also includes water availability, combating drought, safeguarding infrastructure, and—above all—the safety of people,”
explains the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
A report by the Climate Coalition, “The Impact of Climate Change on Poland’s National Security,” indicates that human-induced climate change poses a growing threat to the safety of citizens, society as a whole, and state structures. This threat has many dimensions—from geostrategic and health-related, through energy, food, industrial, and transport security, to environmental risks. A lack of adequate responses in any of these areas may lead to significant economic, social, and political consequences.
“Year after year, we are seeing increasingly record-breaking reports—whether related to heatwaves or heavy rainfall. We are also experiencing phenomena such as the Genoa low, which in 2024 caused flooding in southern Poland. Climate change intensifies existing weather phenomena, making them more violent and more frequent. Events once referred to as ‘once-in-a-thousand-years floods’ are now occurring far more often,”
assesses Urszula Zielińska.
According to the European Environment Agency, between 1980 and 2024 extreme weather and climate events in the European Union caused economic losses totaling EUR 822 billion, with over EUR 208 billion (25%) occurring between 2021 and 2024 alone. An analysis by the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute shows that in Poland, between 2001 and 2019, the average annual cost of extreme weather events amounted to PLN 6 billion, resulting in PLN 115 billion in direct losses. Droughts accounted for over 70% of agricultural losses between 2017 and 2019. Forecasts by the Polish Chamber of Insurance indicate that climate change could reduce GDP by 3–10%, depending on the temperature-increase scenario. In recent years, local governments have increasingly reported that the impacts of extreme weather events are generating rising costs for municipalities.
“Just last year, at least one quarter of Europe’s regions and population were at risk or affected in some way by severe weather events. This means it affects all of us, although studies show that lower-income and more economically vulnerable groups often have greater needs and may be more severely impacted,”
the expert notes.
The government believes that investments implemented under the climate adaptation program will reduce long-term climate-related costs. For example, solutions based on water retention and urban greenery lower the risk of flooding during torrential rains while also reducing temperatures in cities during heatwaves. This, in turn, decreases demand for building cooling and electricity. In practice, this means lower expenditures for both local governments and residents.
“If we have well-insulated buildings and urban greenery, municipalities do not need to spend as much on cooling, deploying cooling water curtains, heating, or repairing damage to buildings. These are clearly investments in the future, aimed at ensuring that our cities do not generate such high costs and that we can better cope with challenges that may be extremely expensive if addressed only after the fact. Preparation costs far less,”
says the representative of the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
An important element of this preparation is the development of Urban Climate Adaptation Plans—mandatory documents for cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants—which define actions, goals, and concepts for building climate resilience. With the launch of the third call for projects in municipalities of Eastern Poland, particular importance is attached to the ministry’s project “Support for Adaptation Actions for Eastern Poland,” which helps local governments effectively prepare applications for funding.
“Local governments can obtain full financing to develop an urban adaptation plan and up to 85% co-financing for implementing related projects. The good news is that even very small municipalities are preparing—or already have—excellent, modern adaptation plans. Those that do not yet have them receive full support from us. We have established a team at the Ministry of Climate and Environment that travels from municipality to municipality, providing assistance, training, and support. We also provide funding,”
concludes Urszula Zielińska.
