UNFCC COP 27 | MedECC Side Event “Assessments of scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change”

MedECC side-event on scientific regional assessments  and science-policy dialogue

The MedECC actively participated at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 COP 27 (6-18 Nov, 2022, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt). As a partner of the Mediterranean Pavilion, the first of its kind to be implemented in the history of the COP’s, the MedECC organised the side event “Assessments of scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean to support evidence-based decision-making”. The objective of the event is to present the current state of the scientific knowledge on climate and environmental changes in the Mediterranean region and subregions, the risks and impatcs associated  to these changes, and to discuss their implementation in the decision-making through the science-policy dialogue (More details).

A panel of high level experts engaged in Mediterranean science-policy initiatives

The event gathered a high level experts who are all contributing in various capacity to the MedECC and IPCC work, or in other science-policy initiatives in the Mediterranean (by order of interventions):

  • Piero Lionello – Full professor of Oceanography Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (University of Salento, Italy), Lead Author of the cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean Region of the IPCC AR6, Coordinating Lead Author of MAR1 (Drivers), Coordinator of the MedECC Special Report on Coastal Risks, chairman of the MedCLIVAR (Mediterranean CLImate VARiability) network
  • Wolfgang Cramer – Research director in environmental geographer and global ecologist (Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology, CNRS, France), Coordinating Lead Author of the cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean Region of the IPCC AR6 and co-coordinator of MedECC
  • Carol Chouchani Cherfane – Director of the Arab Center for Climate Change Policies, Cluster Leader for Climate Change and Natural Resource Sustainability and coordinator of the RICCAR iniative (Regional Initiative for the Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources and Socio-Economic Vulnerability in the Arab Region (UN-ESCWA, Lebanon)
  • Elham Ali – Professor of Oceanography and Aquatic Environment (Suez University, Egypt), Coordinating Lead Author of the cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean Region of the IPCC AR6, Lead Author of the MedECC Special Report on Coastal Risks
  • Nathalie Hilmi – Expert in Macroeconomics and International Finance (Monaco Scientific Centre, Monaco), Author of the cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean Region of the IPCC AR6, Lead Author of MAR1 and Coordinating Lead Author of the MedECC Special Report on Coastal Risks
  • Fatima Driouech – Professor in climatology and executive coordinator of the Adaptation Metrics and Techniques cluster (University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco), Vice-Chair of Working Group I of the IPCC and Coordinator of MedECC
  • Arnau Queralt Bassa – Director of the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (Government of Catalonia, Spain)
Materials:
  • Cross-Chapter on the Mediterranean Region, Cross-Chapter Paper 4 IPCC AR6 –  Cross-Chapter on the Mediterranean Region, Cross-Chapter Paper 4 IPCC AR6 – Ali, E., W. Cramer, J. Carnicer, E. Georgopoulou, N.J.M. Hilmi, G. Le Cozannet, and P. Lionello, 2022: Cross-Chapter Paper 4: Mediterranean Region. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2233–2272, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.021
  • The First Mediterranean Assessement Report, MedECC – MedECC (2020) Climate and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean Basin – Current Situation and Risks for the Future. First Mediterranean Assessment Report [Cramer, W., Guiot, J., Marini, K. (eds.)]. Union for the Mediterranean, Plan Bleu, UNEP/MAP, Marseille, France, 632 pp., ISBN: 978-2-9577416-0-1, doi:10.5281/zenodo.4768833
  • RICCAR iniative: access to Assessments and reports (ongoing)
  • Mediterranean climate: past, present and future –  Piero Lionello, Filippo Giorgi, Eelco Rohling, Richard Seager, Chapter 3 – Mediterranean climate: past, present and future, Editor(s): Katrin Schroeder, Jacopo Chiggiato, Oceanography of the Mediterranean Sea, Elsevier, 2023, Pages 41-91, ISBN 9780128236925, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823692-5.00011-X.

 

For the first time in history, COP27 (6-18 Nov, 2022) has hosted a Mediterranean Pavilion, seeking to highlight both the urgent challenges the region faces the region is currently facing, and the innovative solutions already being developed throughout the Mediterranean, raising awareness on a region overlooked in the climate negotiations. The iniative has been led by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) together with UNEP/MAP and the PRIMA Foundation, along with a coalition of institutions dealing with climate action in the region. Two UNEP/MAP components, as well as the network of experts MedECC, are co-sponsoring this initiative, namely Plan Bleu (the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Center specializing in sustainable development) and MedWaves (the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production), through the Government of Catalonia of Spain and the EU-funded SwitchMed programme.