Executive Summary

The Mediterranean is often referred to as a ‘hot spot’ of climate and environmental change given the high exposure and vulnerability of human societies and ecosystems and interconnected risks in this region (MAR1 2020, IPCC 2022). A third of the Mediterranean population lives close to the sea and depends on infrastructure developed within the coastal zone and thus policies to manage coastal risks and adaptation strategies in the context of sustainable development are important to the whole region. Policy development together with regional cooperation supports greater integration of knowledge, applied to more sustainable and integrated Coastal Zone Management and its proper communication.

Risk assessments for Mediterranean coastal zones address the specific features of climate, variability and extremes, and the often narrow and over-pressured coastal zones of the Mediterranean Basin. Coastal risk levels, estimated with an explicit treatment of uncertainties can inform adaptation pathways and support coastal sustainability decisions. Coastal hazards, vulnerabilities, and exposure are assessed together with climatic and environmental management scenarios. This combined information provides useful support for a transition towards risk reduction, building long term resilience and sustainability in coastal governance, policies, as well as social perception.

Adaptation pathways provide a sequenced set of interventions to sustain coastal zones and control risk levels, including change stations (indicating shift in adaptation pathways) and tipping points (indicating a threshold in adaptation pathways) to guide coastal decisions. The preparation of adaptation pathways favours objective discussions among stakeholders to co-decide preferred adaptation options and deadlines for their implementation, which in turn facilitates the generation of sufficient funding and supportive policies
Coastal risks have consequences for biophysical values and social activities. Understanding how risks are distributed within and among communities can inform adaptation policy development. A value-based approach guides the understanding between nature and society, placing the social and cultural values in context within the region.

Adaptation plans designed by local and regional administrations typically focus on the need to protect communities, and minimise impacts on the natural environment, such as ensuring ecosystem resilience. Including ethical considerations would lead to informed more socially- and ecosystems-oriented adaptation policies.