Towards a REGIONAL FRAMEWORK for (COASTAL) ADAPTATION to CLIMATE CHANGE by

1. Towards a REGIONAL FRAMEWORK for (COASTAL) ADAPTATION to CLIMATE CHANGEby Ante BARIC, Mohammed BOULAHYA and Gilles SOMMERIA, consultants

2. OUTLINE Background and Scope Mediterranean Context Regional Framework – added value and objectives Priorities for action A. Building information, understanding and capacity to cope with climate change B. Integrating climate change issues into national policies, plans and programmes Strengthening national adaptive capacity in key sectors V.Next steps and indicative action plan & activities

3. BACKGROUND AND SCOPE Almeria Declaration (Jan. 2008) – recognized issues of climate change 16th meeting of the CPs and Marrakech Declaration (Nov. 2009) – called for strengthening regional cooperation on adaptation to climate change Cancun Adaptation Framework (Dec. 2010) Key sectors: coastal and marine biodiversity, coastal freshwater resources, coastal zone management, coastal tourism, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, urban areas, energy

4. MEDITERRANEAN CONTEXT IPCC assesment AR4 (2007) – Mediterranean area is one of the most vulnerable regions. Projected climate change for 21st century: Warming in all seasons (0.6°C/decade in summer); Increased No. of very hot days and longer heat waves; Increased interannual variability of temp. and precip.; Reduced precipitation, more pronounced in the western and southern parts (-30 %), during summer; Increased intensity of heavy precipitation; Sea level increase +6/+11 cm (2021-2050); acidification

5. multi-model mean trend of the 2-metre temperature (T2m)obtained from the CIRCE simulations (2010)

6. MEDITERRANEAN CONTEXT – Cont. Impacts of temperature increase (examples): Changes in physical characteristics of marine systems – changes in phytoplankton communities, increased harmfull algal blooms (impacts on tourism), spread of invasive species (impacts on biodiversity), changes in population dynamics of commercial important species (impact on fisheries), impact on biodiversity (loss 15-37% of Mediterranean species by 2050).

7. MEDITERRANEAN CONTEXT – Cont. Impacts of Sea level rise (examples): Increased river and storm flooding (increase of 1 m - 41,500 km2 of the territory and 37 million people in North Africa, directly impacted) Accelerated coastal erosion – impacts on tourism; Seawater intrusion into coastal ground water – salinization of fresh water; Encroachment of seawater into wetlands and estuaries – destruction of habitats and biodiversity reduction; Impacts on coastal installations.

8. REGIONAL FRAMEWORK – added value Objectives: Help raise awareness and build-up capacities for adaptation measures; Support adaptation setting and planning at regional and national levels; Help countries to identify and undertake concrete adaptive actions; Facilitate the access to reliable and comparable scientific data; Help establish mechanisms to exchange experience; Promote cost-effective adaptation measures and public-private partnership

9. REGIONAL FRAMEWORK (Cont.) Priorities for actions: A. Building information, understanding and capacity to cope with climate change impacts; B. Integrating climate change risks and adaptation measures into national policies, plans and programmes C. Strengthening national adaptive capacities in key sectors and developing tools needed to adapt to climate change.

10. REGIONAL FRAMEWORK (Cont.) Building information, understanding and capacity Establish national systems to deal with climate change, impacts and adaptation issues; Establish regional mechanisms to encourage participation to research developments and reinforcement of observation networks; Establish Regional Clearing Mechanisms; Establishing Early Warming Systems for climate type alerts; Develop capacity building and awareness raising programmes; Recognize regional and sub-regional centers of excellence; Develop Partnerships and Cooperation

11. COMPONENTS OF THE GLOBAL FRAMEWORK for CLIMATE SERVICES to inform Adaptation Users: government, private and research sectors, covering agriculture, water, health, construction, disaster reduction, environment, tourism, transport, etc Services related to past and present climate Services related to future climate User Interface Climate Services Information System Observations and Monitoring Research, Modelling and Prediction CAPACITY BUILDING

12. Existing infrastructure at Regional level : RCOFs - RCCs Med-ACC Forum & PRESANORD-ACMAD NEACC BCC TCC ACMAD ICPAC CIIFEN SADC-CSC Designated RCCs Pilot RCCs Pilot RCC Networks Pilot RCCs by 2012 Pilot RCC Networks by 2012 Pilot RCCs in development OPERATIONAL CLIMATE INFRASTRUCTURE

13. REGIONAL FRAMEWORK (Cont.) B. Integrating cc risks and adaptation measures into national policies, plans and programmes Objectives; Targets by 2020; Actions at regional and national level to be implemented to achieve the targets

14. REGIONAL FRAMEWORK (Cont.) C. Strengthening national adaptive capacity and capability in priority sectors and developing tools Marine and coastal biodiversity and ecosystems; Coastal Freshwater Resources; Coastal Zone Management; Coastal Tourism; Agriculture; Fisheries and Aquaculture; Urban Areas; Energy.

15. CLIMATE SMART DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT(Example of integrated disaster and climate risk management, presented at World Reconstruction Conference, Geneva, May 2011) Tackle changing disaster risks and uncertainties Collaboration, integration, better understanding, access to information, early warning and advisory climate servoces Enhance adaptive capacity Stronger resilience, flexible policies, effective institutions, preparedness, planning, community involvement Address poverty/vulnerability + structural causes Social equity, access to services, transparency, climate smart development

16. Next steps and indicative action plan & activities • Learn from MSSD evaIuation (5years) and integrate MCSD recommendations in the draft framework document (end of June) • Explore the potential of developing an interface between science and decision-makers e.g. climate risk management forums/networks • Explore the way to involve stakeholders in key sectors • Resource mobilisation, PPP and risk transfer mechanism • Contribution to WCSD/RIO+20 (2012) • Consolidate the contribution of Med Region to AR5, following the IPCC audit recommendation

17. Thank you abaric1943@yahoo.ca climdevafrica@gmail.com gsommeria@gmail.com