EIT Climate-KIC unveils strategy to bridge gap between commitments and reality

Dubai, 6 December, 2023 – EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, is excited to announce its novel strategy for 2024-2030, Transformation, With Urgency, aimed at addressing the urgent need for radical transformation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.  

EIT Climate-KIC’s plan acknowledges the unprecedented challenges faced by the world, including extreme weather events, food and water scarcity, climate-induced migration, and geopolitical tensions. It recognises the critical role of local action and the need to move beyond competitive dynamics to foster radical collaboration for accelerated and just climate action. The strategy also outlines the organisation’s commitment to fostering systemic change and bridging the gap between climate commitments and the current reality. 

Navigating the ‘messy middle’ 

Over the past decade, EIT Climate-KIC has collaborated with more than 400 partners in 60 countries, managing annual grant budgets of €80-100 million. In addition to supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs working on climate innovations, the organisation has played a pivotal role in supporting cities, regions, countries, and industries in meeting their climate ambitions through systems innovation and place-based transformations. 

From this experience, EIT Climate-KIC understood the challenges and opportunities of working in the ‘messy middle,’ where each tenth of a degree rise in temperature brings more volatility and complexity.  

The organisation’s goal for 2030 is to support the transformation of over 400 cities, regions, and countries in Europe and beyond into climate-resilient, carbon-neutral, and ecologically sustainable places. This transformation will be achieved through collaborative partnerships between leaders, civil society, citizens, and the public and private sectors. To achieve this ambition, the newly released 2024-2030 strategy focuses on testing, learning, and sharing comprehensive climate change solutions, emphasising diverse and multi-faceted approaches to systemic change and collective action. 

Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC says:

“Amid the chaos of a changing world, we’ve chosen to embrace the implementation gap – the ‘messy middle’ – because that is where profound shifts need to happen. We’ve understood for a while now that innovation isn’t just about technology; it’s about transforming mindsets, industries, and systems. EIT Climate-KIC is committed to occupying and addressing the implementation, capability and finance gaps, because this is where we’ll find the key to a just, climate-resilient, and beautiful future for all.” 
  
“We’re not just talking about it; we’re already experimenting and testing solutions with hundreds of cities and regions, and we’re learning and adapting, or learning to adapt, as we go. In the next seven years, we pledge to resource and invest to deepen and accelerate transformation, and to mobilise a collective voice for climate action, demonstrating that change is not just necessary to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to enable wellbeing, learning and inner development (IDGs), but it’s also possible. We’re calling on ambitious leaders and funders to join us in the ‘messy middle’ where collective ingenuity turns the unlikely into the possible, and systems change becomes a reality.”  

Download Transformation, With Urgency, our 2024-2030 Strategy, by clicking the button below.

Download Transformation, With Urgency

For more information, contact: 
Anne-Sophie Garrigou, Campaigns and Media Lead, EIT Climate-KIC 
anne-sophie.garrigou@climate-kic.org 

About EIT Climate-KIC 

EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, supporting cities, regions, countries and industries to meet their climate ambitions through systems innovation and place-based transformations.