CREAF, a scientific voice of a new MedECC analysis on climate change in the Mediterranean

CREAF is collaborating in the assessment of climate change in the Mediterranean, which is regularly carried out by the scientific network MedECC, particularly in the analysis recently presented on the link between climate, water, energy, food and ecosystems Interlikages of Climate and Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus in the Mediterranean region. This dossier has been presented together with another one dealing with environmental risks on the Mediterranean coast, Climate and environmental coastal risks in the Mediterranean. As usual in the work of this scientific network, beyond taking the pulse of the situation, special emphasis is placed on providing recommendations to inform policy decisions and action. 

The 240-page report is a compilation of scientific literature on the effects of the climate crisis on the Mediterranean coast and addresses risks such as extreme and flash floods, the consequences of sea level rise and some of its derivatives such as the increase in water temperature, the expansion of invasive alien species and the disappearance of beaches, to name but a few of the obvious ones. In the space on extreme and unplanned flooding, the paper notes that it is likely to become commonplace, which connects to ‘climate change and urban sprawl’.

One third of the population in the Mediterranean area lives very close to the coast and is also experiencing significant growth compared to those living inland. These people are at risk from rising sea levels, a danger ‘almost three times greater in southern and eastern countries than in northern countries,’ according to the MedECC report. Sea level rise and the increase and intensity of storms lead to widespread coastal erosion in the Mediterranean area. The analysis estimates that the average retreat of the coastline will be between 17.5 and 23 metres in 2050 compared to 2010. These facts are directly related in the document to global warming as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. 

The science group says that a range of economic, policy and legal instruments are available to drive the sustainable blue economy and decouple energy consumption from economic growth. ‘As the effects of climate change amplify existing socio-economic and environmental problems, the most impactful courses of action are technological, social and ecosystem-based solutions that take into account the four interrelated elements of the WEFE nexus (water-energy-food-ecosystems),’ it says. Alicia Pérez-Porro, head of CREAF's Policy Interaction and Institutional Relations, spoke in the section analysing the relationships between climate, water, energy, food and ecosystems. 

CREAF has already participated in previous MedECC reports, specifically in 2019 with the intervention of researchers Lluís Brotons and Enrique Doblas and researcher Alejandra Morán Ordóñez. 

Adaptation measures are one of the actions that the team of specialists point to as a necessary way to have an impact on this context. In the presentation of the report at COP29, Piero Lionello, one of the coordinators of the work and professor of Oceanography at the University of Salento (Italy), pointed to nature-based solutions as one of the adaptation measures, although he stated that they are not being implemented and that it is necessary to gain time and get ahead of the curve. Achieving sustainable development goals requires cross-border policies with innovative solutions, including renewable energy, say the MedECC network and the UfM. 

Independence is one of the flagships of the analyses carried out by MedECC, a network of 300 scientists from various countries, specialists in climate and environmental change and the risks associated with the Mediterranean basin. Its work is based on the highest scientific standards and includes specialists from all the regions involved and scientific disciplines required. It was founded in 2015, inspired by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).