Adaptation strategies to Climate Change impacts in the Mediterranean Area: an investigation theme in the framework of the MED programme

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Adaptation strategies to Climate Change impacts
in the Mediterranean Area an investigation theme
in the framework of the MED programme

• Carlo Cacciamani () Renata Pelosini ()
• () Arpa Regione Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, Italy
• () Arpa Regione Piemonte, Torino, Italy
• Workgroup 2 Protection of the environment and
  promotion of a sustainable territorial development

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Outline

• The observational evidence of Climate change in
  Europe and in the Med Area
• Which are the most disturbing impacts in the
  Mediterranean Area ?
• What about Adaptation strategies ?
• Link with the Med programme

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The observational evidence of Climate Change in
Europe and in the Med Area
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Mean annual rainfall PO river catchment 1975-2006
20 reduction
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Projections of future Climate Change
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Key messages

• Global warming is inequivocal
• Climate change projections are generally in line
  with previous assessments and depend on the
  emission scenarios
• The Mediterranean is an especially vulnerable
  region to global warming, specially during the
  warm season (spring/summer)
• Some further climate change is unavoidable so we
  will need to manage the unavoidable (adaptation)
  but avoid the unmanageable (mitigation).

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Which are the most disturbing impacts in the
Mediterranean area ?
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Examples of Impacts

• Higher risk of Extreme weather events like
  fires, floods, landslides, storms and heat waves
• The Mediterranean is suffering more and more from
  droughts. Water scarcity may become a persistent
  problem to manage
• The combined effects of heat and drought will
  severely affect agriculture
• Seaside tourism will shift from the summer to
  spring and autumn
• Increasing demand for electricity for cooling.
  More frequent power cuts due to increased demand,
  storm damage, shortage of cooling water, and
  reduced water capacity for hydropower
• Snow is already melting in the Alps and the
  skiing industry is very concerned.

Examples of impacts
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What about Adaptation strategies ?
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What is adaptation?

• Adaptation is a series of actions taken to cope
  with a changing climate, e.g. increased rainfall,
  higher temperatures, scarce water or more
  frequent storms...
• Adaptation may need to tackle present problems or
  anticipate changes in the future, aiming to
  reduce risk and damage cost-effectively, and
  perhaps even exploiting potential benefits
• Adaptation includes transnational/national/regiona
  l strategies and practical steps taken at
  community level or by individuals, and may be
  anticipatory or reactive. It applies to both
  natural and human systems.

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Actions mitigation adaptation options
CAUSE decrease greenhouse gas emissions

• increase energetic efficiency
• use of renovable energy
• energy saving
• ri-forestion

mitigation adaptation
effects
World with no actions
Cl.Ch. Impacts
Only mitigation
mitigation and adaptation
time
EFFECTS adjust systems to Climate Change to
decrease damages, exploit opportunities and
manage consequences
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Adaptation options
Hard approach technological and infrastructural
options
Large investment
Impacts and priority sizing
Long realization time
Soft approach non structural options
Applicable with uncertain knowledge
Short realization time
Negligible costs and included into
social/economic developing
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.some examples of hard actions

• adapting building to future climate conditions
  and extreme weather events
• building flood defenses and raising the levels of
  dykes
• developing more drought-tolerant crops
• choosing tree species and forestry practices less
  vulnerable to storms and fires
• setting aside land corridors to help species
  migrate.

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Soft adaptation options

• Education
• Optimisation of use of the resources (ex. Water
  !)
• Setup of risk prevention systems
• protection of environment and of population
  health- social-economic welfare

Developing awareness To reduce environmental,
economic, information, social, behavioural
barriers opposing adaptation options
Instruments development setup of operational
environmental monitoring and forecasting systems

• applicable
• efficient
• fair
• accessible
• linked to the context

• institutional preparation
• social learning
• involving of stakeholders
• high governance capability
• public information

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Adaptation strategies

• Desertification Better knowledge of territory
  vulnerability
• Health risk medium and long planning of
  prevention actions before the occurrence of
  extreme meteo-climatic events, increasing
  diseases and mortality (heat waves, respiratory
  diseases due to allergenic pollens...)
• Coastal areas Abandonment of coastal areas to
  their natural evolution, conservation of natural
  zones (sand dunes) at interface between land and
  sea
• Agriculture modification of agronomic practices
  (ex optimize seeding timing) or more structural
  changes (drastic change of cultivation).
  Promotion of technological innovation to maximise
  efficiency
• Biodiversity synergy with protection actions of
  natural environmental resources creation of
  protected areas, wet and coastal areas...
• Hydrological risk Improving monitoring and
  forecasting capability and systems. On a longer
  time scale, setup (or change) of territorial
  plans taking into account climatic change.
  Promotion of policies for a better use of the
  territory decreasing geological risk
  (landslides).

Examples of adaptation actions
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Link with the Med programme
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Adaptation and the Med Programme
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Priority axis 2 Protection of the
environment And promotion of a sustainable
territorial development
Main issues defined within Axis 2 where
adaptation options may be devised Protection of
biodiversity, maritime habitat, water resources,
sea (ob. 2.1). Major risks fire, floods,
droughts, reduction of water resources,
landslides (ob. 2.4) In order to promote a
sustainable development, different bodies in
charge responsible of regional developments have
to take into account also the effects of climate
change as a further forcing to the environment,
and have to improve cooperation to ensure
responsible development and preserve and valorize
natural resources and heritage (for example
sustainable tourism),
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CONCLUSION - 1

• The development of adaptation actions is
  coherent with the priority 2 of the MED program
  and contributes to the realization of ob. 2.4
  (risk prevention) and 2.1 (protection and
  valorization of natural resources and heritage)
• Adaptation is one the strategies to propose to
  manage natural risk occurrence that could
  increase in changed climate conditions.
• Furthermore, adaptation actions concur to the
  protection and valorization of the natural
  resources, because reduce the external pressures
  to the environment

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CONCLUSION - 2

• It is necessary to define, in the MED area,
  macro-activities and (strategic ?) actions, to be
  achieved in a transnational cooperation,
  finalized to improve
• Specific knowledge, common monitoring and
  communication tools necessary to identify in
  great detail the main impacts of Climate Change
  and the more useful and reliable adaptation
  strategies (in term of environmental and
  economical sustainability)
• Methods and technologies finalized to setup and
  manage the devised adaptation strategies. These
  actions needs a strong transnational coordination
  in order not to duplicate efforts and allow
  state-of-the art elaborations

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The endThank you