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Agenda

Adaptation in coastal zones: From science to action

Day: 12/11/2022
Time: 12:30 -
 13:30 (Egypt local time, CET+1)
Place: Mediterranean Pavilion
Organised by: PAP/RAC

Issues related to climate and environmental risks along Mediterranean coasts will be discussed by scientists and decision-makers, based on MedECC reports and the experience of UNEP/MAP Components – PAP/RAC and Plan Bleu. Successful cases of climate action through coastal plans, Climagine participatory method and local foresight will be presented. It will be shown: how science may support climate action and informed decision-making; how integrated approach leads to sound policy solutions; and how timely stakeholder engagement matters when it comes to implementation. 
 
Background

For more than 40 years the Mediterranean countries work together for the protection of their marine and coastal ecosystems through UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention system. One of the Convention’s Protocols, the Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management is the first regional legally-binding instrument in the world that requires the establishment of a 100m coastal setback and invites countries to prepare national coastal strategies and plans.  

Since 2015 the network of Mediterranean Experts for Climate and Environmental Change (MedECC) provides scientific information on climate change challenges to decision makers and general public. Supported by UNEP/MAP and UfM, MedECC published in 2020 the First Mediterranean Assessment Report, and one of its coordinators led the cross-chapter on Mediterranean within the IPCC AR6.  

Still, population growth, lifestyles, intensive tourism industry and scarce water resources, particularly in the South and East of the basin, put the Mediterranean and its people under the imminent threat of damages due to climate change, loss of biodiversity, increasing pollution and degradation of land and sea.  
 
Event objectives
To present the ICZM Protocol – a unique supranational legal framework for coastal management that addresses climate risks, too; 
To demonstrate advantages of an integrated approach, showing that coastal adaptation without mitigation can hardly work; 
To demonstrate how participatory approaches not only capture local knowledge but are also a prerequisite for successful implementation of any plan or strategy.  

Il will be illustrated how progress from science to action is possible but also how much more is needed for ecological transition on which the world as we know it depends.