Piwniczna-Zdrój, a small spa town nestled in Poland’s southern Beskidy mountains, has been ranked the most climate-change-resistant municipality in the European Union in a newly released assessment.
The town of around 5,000 residents topped the latest index published by COOLCITY, a platform focused on helping cities strengthen their resilience to climate change.
The ranking assessed 11,041 municipalities across the EU using five key indicators: land permeability, vegetation health, biodiversity, water conditions and thermal conditions.
The evaluation relied on data gathered through remote sensing technologies, including Sentinel and Landsat satellites, with artificial intelligence used to analyse environmental performance.
Why Piwniczna-Zdrój ranked first
Located about five kilometres from the Slovak border, Piwniczna-Zdrój achieved the highest overall score in the study with 8.5 out of 10.
It was followed by Echinos in Greece and Ii in Finland.
The Polish town received a perfect score of 10 for land permeability, a measure of how well surfaces absorb water instead of trapping heat through concrete-heavy infrastructure.
It also scored an impressive 9.6 for vegetation quality, reflecting its extensive green cover and strong natural cooling capacity.
According to COOLCITY, Piwniczna-Zdrój offers more than 2,000 square metres of greenery per resident.
Natural assets and local policies
Dominik Kopeć of MGGP Aero, the Polish remote-sensing company leading the COOLCITY project, said the town’s results highlight the importance of preserving natural environmental advantages.
“Piwniczna-Zdrój’s result clearly shows how strongly local natural conditions influence resilience to climate change and how important it is to protect these resources,” he said.
Mayor Tomasz Michałowski welcomed the recognition, crediting long-term eco-conscious planning.
He said the town has consistently prioritised environmentally friendly investments, encouraged sustainable tourism and taken action against illegal waste dumping through monitoring systems.
The mayor also noted that Piwniczna-Zdrój has avoided the widespread phenomenon in Poland known as “betonoza” or “concretitis” — the replacement of green public spaces with concrete.
Climate adaptation gaining focus in Poland
The ranking comes as Poland increasingly focuses on urban climate adaptation.
In 2023, the Polish government launched a programme aimed at helping smaller towns remove excessive concrete, expand green spaces and improve water retention.
The COOLCITY study also highlighted strong performances by major Polish cities.
Among EU cities with populations above 500,000, Kraków ranked joint sixth for climate resilience, while Stockholm and Gothenburg claimed the top two spots.
Growing climate risks across Europe
The report arrives amid growing scientific concern over intensifying climate impacts across Europe.
Experts warn that climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events including heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods.
Poland has experienced several stark examples.
In 2024, catastrophic floods killed nine people, with climate scientists later concluding that climate change made the rainfall event twice as likely and 7 percent more intense.
The country has also faced worsening drought conditions, with the Vistula River — Poland’s longest river — falling to a record low water level of just 7 centimetres in Warsaw last year.
COOLCITY’s creators say the index is designed not just to present environmental data, but to provide cities with practical insights for climate adaptation planning.
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