Two special reports presented at COP29
On November 18Th MedECC, the Euro-Mediterranean Climate and Environmental Scientists Network, presented two special reports on forecasted coastal risks and the Water-Energy-Food Ecosystems Nexus in the Mediterranean region.
The reports address two specific challenges identified in the First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1), presented in 2020 as the first-ever scientific report on climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean area.
The reports cover the following topics: Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean and Interlinking Climate Change with the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE)
During the presentation, Piero Lionello, from the University of Salento, and Mohamed Abdel Monem, an independent consultant on climate change and rural development, highlighted the pressing need for more efficient adaptation and mitigation measures in the region alongside UfM Project Manager for Energy and Climate Action Ines Duarte.
The document states that “A third of the Mediterranean region’s population lives in close vicinity to the sea and depends on nearby infrastructure and economic activities.
Additionally “The coastal population is expected to grow faster than the inland population, thus leading to increased exposure of people and assets to coastal hazards resulting from climate change and environmental degradation.”
According to the report “Up to 20 million people could be affected by permanent displacement due to sea-level rise by 2100.” Additionally, the infrastructure such as transport networks and cultural sites are at risk, with 20 airports identified as vulnerable to coastal flooding.
The report also states that the current rate of annual sea level rise in the Mediterranean is about 2.8 mm per year “twice as high as the 20th century average, while by the end of the 21st century the mean sea level could go up by a metre”. Unfortunately “the Mediterranean coast is among the world’s regions with the highest probability of compound flooding, the impacts of which will be aggravated as a result of climate change and population growth on the coast. “
The Mediterranean also suffers from marine heatwaves, which have “increased in frequency and duration by 40% and 15% respectively over the past two decades”. These heatwaves contribute to higher carbon emissions and favour the emergence of non-indigenous tropical species, which in turn have a number of ecological and socio-economic impacts.
To make matters worse, there is the presence of plastic: the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most heavily polluted areas in the world. “Plastics account for up to 82% of observed litter, 95–100% of total floating marine litter and more than 50% of seabed marine litter.” According to the report “By 2040 the leakage of plastics into the sea is likely to double if annual plastic production continues to grow at a rate of 4% and waste management is not radically improved.”
The report warns that efforts to adopt effective mitigation and adaptation measures are still insufficient: “the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met unless there is transformative action across all sectors, systems, and scales”.
Three are the main pathways for action within the WEFE nexus approach:
- Innovative technological solutions, including renewable energy, which has a significant potential to mitigate climate change, especially in the South and East, and enhanced efficiency.
- Ecosystem-based solutions, including agroecology and nature-based Solutions (NbS) such as green infrastructure or wetland restoration
- Social innovation approaches aiming to reduce or modify consumption patterns, such as the readoption of the Mediterranean diet, which is less energy intensive.
“The Mediterranean Sea is a source of immense pride for the 22 countries that border its shores, an inextricable part of their identity and heritage,” said UfM Project Manager for Energy and Climate Action Ines Duarte. “But it is time to accept that the Mediterranean as we know it may not be around much longer if our efforts to counter climate change continue to fall short. Given its consequential importance, supporting the green transition has always been one of the Union for the Mediterranean’s greatest priorities.”
MedECC is an open and independent network of scientists founded in 2015 with support from the Union for the Mediterranean and Plan Bleu. It assesses the best available scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change and the associated risks in the Mediterranean basin to make results accessible to decision-makers, stakeholders and citizens. It published the first-ever Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1) in 2020.
Discover the two Report:
1. Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean
2. Interlinking climate change with the Water – Energy – Food – Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus in the Mediterranean Basin