Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean

The MedECC Special Report Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific, technical and socio-economic literature on environmental and climate change hazards in the Mediterranean Basin’s coastal zones. It builds upon the MedECC MAR1 Assessment Report, previous reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and other relevant regional, national, and local assessments, and is drawing on evidence from over 1000 scientific publications. The Special Report has been prepared by a team of 56 leading experts and scientists from 17 countries in the various fields of research, who have volunteered to contribute their expertise, rigour and time without any economic compensation.

The Special Report includes the Summary for Policymakers (SPM), composed of headline statements and a high-level summary and narrative of the key messages from the longer report. The SPM went throug a final stakeholder review concluded through the online plenary consultation on November 6, 2023. The aim of the consultation was to ascertain that the findings of the Special Report as presented in the SPM, are fully comprehensible and unambiguous and, overall, that the Plenary consultation did not identify any factual inaccuracy or error in the SPM.

The development of the Special Report involved several stages of drafting, an open and transparent review and revision process, and consultation with stakeholders to ensure scientific accuracy and robustness, as well as strong policy-relevance. The SPM underwent stakeholder consultation and was concluded during an online plenary consultation with key stakeholders on November 7, 2024. These included MAP Focal Points, Plan Bleu Focal Points, members of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), MAP Partners, as well as members, observers, and partners of the UfM Climate Change Expert Group (UfM CCEG) and the UfM Working Group on Environment and Climate Change (WG ENV-CC), among other MedECC partners. 

The SPM was approved by the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention during their 23rd Meeting (Decision IG.26/13, COP 23, Slovenia, 5-8 December 2023).