Scientific reports on climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean
As one of the climate hotspots warming 20% faster than the global average, the Mediterranean faces unprecedented challenges that threaten its ecosystems, economies, and communities.
In November 2020, the Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change (MedECC) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) presented the First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1), the first-ever region-wide scientific report on climate change and environmental degradation.
Four years later at COP29 (November 2024), the MedECC, in support of the UfM, presented two follow-up special reports on the impacts of climate and environmental change on the region’s coastal zones as well as on the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus.
In this page, you can find textual and visual briefs on the reports, in addition to a media corner to aid interested journalists.
Special Report on Climate and Environmental Coastal Risks in the Mediterranean (November 2024)
The Mediterranean coastal zone is a hotspot for highly interconnected climate risks for the ecosystems and the societies due to a particular combination of multiple severe climate hazards, including rising temperatures, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events. Policies to manage coastal risks and adaptation strategies in the Mediterranean coastal zone are important to the whole region, as a third of the Mediterranean population lives close to the sea and depends on infrastructure and economic activities in its immediate vicinity. Thus, region-specific scientific knowledge is essential for stakeholders, governments, and citizens to make informed climate and environmental decisions and policies.
The 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 leading experts and scientists in the various fields of research, who have volunteered to contribute their expertise, rigour and time without any economic compensation.
Special Report Interlinking climate change with the Water – Energy – Food – Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus in the Mediterranean Basin (November 2024)
The Mediterranean region is currently dealing with critical global challenges, including water scarcity, food and energy insecurity, and ecosystem degradation. These challenges are interconnected and are collectively referred to as the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus. Climate change further exacerbates these challenges, making it necessary to take a comprehensive and integrated approach to achieve sustainable development and resilience in the face of evolving environmental and socio-economic dynamics.
This Special Report on the WEFE nexus is essential. It represents a significant step in understanding the complex relationships between water, energy, food, and ecosystems in the Mediterranean. The report offers a comprehensive assessment of the available scientific knowledge on these issues, covering the drivers of change, cascading impacts, and response options for addressing the multiple challenges in the region. It emphasises the need for cross-sectoral coordination, technological and social innovation, ecosystem based solutions, including nature-based, and transformative governance to mitigate risks and maximise synergies across the WEFE components.
The findings in this Special Report are the result of collaborative efforts by scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders across the Mediterranean. It builds on the First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1) released in 2020 by MedECC, advancing the discussion by focusing on the interconnections and trade-offs between water, energy, food, and ecosystems. This report provides decision-makers with data-driven insights, along with evaluations relevant for policy-making needed for mitigating climate impacts and ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources.
Climate and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean Basin: Current Situation and Risks for The Future (2020)
First Scientific Report on Climate and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean
Recent accelerated climate change has exacerbated existing environmental problems in the Mediterranean Basin that are caused by the combination of changes in land use, increasing pollution and declining biodiversity. In most impact domains (such as water, ecosystems, food, health and security), current change and future scenarios consistently point to significant and increasing risks during the coming decades.
Policies for the sustainable development of Mediterranean countries are urgently needed to mitigate these risks and consider adaptation options, but policy-makers lacked adequate information — particularly for the most vulnerable southern Mediterranean societies, where fewer systematic observations schemes and impact models are based.
As a result, the network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change (MedECC) was created in 2015 as an open and independent regional scientific expert network, supported by the UfM and the UN environment. 190 scientists from 25 countries, all contributing in individual capacity and without financial compensation, have been developing reports with the aim to facilitate more effective policy responses to climate change.
After preliminary conclusions published in 2019, the second phase of the assessment resulted in the publication of the complete Mediterranean Assessment Report on Climate and Environmental Changes and its Summary for Policy-Makers. The main conclusions were presented during the 2nd UfM Ministerial on Environment and climate actions to take place on the 4th of October 2021 in Cairo.
Among its main conclusions, the report shows that the Mediterranean basin warms 20% faster than the global average, and that the region is one of the main climate change hotspots in the world, where 250 million people are projected to be considered “water poor” within 20 years. With current policies, temperatures are expected to increase by 2.2ºC (compared to pre-industrial level) by 2040.
In March 2022, we published a series of 5 new infographics to present and highlight specific risks associated with climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean Basin and based on data of the MAR1 published in November 2020.
Policy framework
The UfM follows the mandate of the 42 UfM Member States, which gather in the Ministerial Meetings to address strategic priorities in the region. In 2014, UfM Ministers in charge of environment and climate change gathered in Athens on the occasion of the first UfM Ministerial Meeting on Environment and Climate Change.
As a result, the network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change (MedECC) was created in 2015 as an open and independent international scientific expert network acting as a mechanism for decision-makers and the general public on the basis of available scientific information and on-going research. The creation of this network is supported by key regional institutions such as UN Environment/MAP through the Regional Framework for Climate Change Adaptation in the Mediterranean, and the Union for the Mediterranean through its Expert Group on Climate Change (UfM CCEG). MedECC gathers more than 600 scientists from 35 countries. Its Secretariat is hosted by Plan Bleu in Marseille.
In December 2019 the preliminary results of MedECC’s assessment on the risks associated to climate and environmental changes in the Mediterranean were published.
Taking stock of the conclusions, the UfM Ministers of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the urgent need to address the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean region and shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns for a green and low emission economy.
“No single nation, no single community, in our region has enough resources to cope with the pace of climate change on its own. Undeniably, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, our common efforts in the next decade have to focus on facing this urgent issue that goes way beyond climate change and implies reconsidering our approach to the region’s limited resources”, UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel underlined at the UfM Regional Forum on 10 October 2019, when main conclusions of the report were presented.
In October 2021, Ministers from the 42 Member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gathered in Cairo at the 2nd UfM Ministerial Conference on Environment and Climate Action to reiterate the urgency and discuss ways to steer the action towards a clean, competitive, resilient and inclusive Mediterranean for the health and well-being of all citizens in the region.
The Summary for Policymakers was recognised as “an important contribution of the scientific community to future climate and environmental actions in the Mediterranean region » in the declaration of the the 2nd UfM Ministerial Conference on Environment and Climate Action (4 October 2021, Cairo, Egypt) by the 42 UfM ministers, and was endorsed but the Contracting Parties during the 22nd meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention COP22 (December 2021, Antalya, Türkiye).
With the support of the UfM, the MedECC received on December 9, 2021 in Lisbon (Portugal) the North-South Prize 2020 of the Council of Europe for “its efforts to address climate change and biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean and in particular by drafting the first-ever scientific assessment on climate and environmental changes impacts in the Mediterranean Basin”
