Our Common Future Under Climate Change

International Scientific Conference 7-10 JULY 2015 Paris, France

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TOWARDS AN ASSESSMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

Overview


Organizers :� Joel Guiot, CEREGE, CNRS/Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France; Wolfgang Cramer, IMBE, CNRS/Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
Date : July 9th, from 4pm to 7pm
Location : University Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, Metis Lab (room Darcy, see more information for a map)
Expected number of participants : 1-50
Nature of participants : scientists
Keywords : Mediterranean, experts, climatic changes
Co-Founding members :
  • JP. Gattuso LOV, Villefranche, France
  • M. Lange, EEWRC, Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • R. Trigo University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
  • R. Valentini CCMC, Viterbo, Italy�
  • E. Xoplaki University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany

More information



You will find more information on this side event on the following link: http://www.otmed.fr/spip.php?article837 and by contacting Joel Guiot ([email protected]) and Wolfgang Cramer ([email protected]).

Summary

The Mediterranean Basin is a highly populated region known for very significant risks from climate change during the coming decades, yet a coherent cross-sectoral basin-wide assessment is lacking. We propose to initiate an open international expert network, �Mediterranean Experts for Climate Change� (MedECC), aiming to create a mechanism of ongoing support for policy makers and the general public on the basis of available scientific information.

Starting from the side event at the Conference �Our Common Future under Climate Change� in Paris, France, July 7-10, 2015, we envisage the network to grow through voluntary contributions by interested experts institutions, as well as existing networks. MedECC will develop reports, using criteria similar to those of the IPCC and IPBES.

The initiating event will have two sections:
  • A brief summary of the current state of knowledge on climate change, its impacts and associated risks, across all subregions and all major sectors of the Mediterranean region
  • An open discussion about the need, and possible structure of MedECC

We want to take the opportunity that numerous scientists working on climatic change in the Mediterranean are present to start a discussion on the opportunity of such network and the way to organise it. The key points are the mode of functioning, the structure of the group, the funding, the mode of relations with policy makers. Initiatives are already existing at the sub-country scale (Catalonia, Provence �) or at the international level (Union for Mediterranean, World Bank, United Nations Programme for the Environment/ Plan Bleu) and should be invited to the discussions.

Planned near term activities

During the meeting, a list of addresses was collected from interested scientists. This list will be consolidated and used as a primary means of electronic communication. The report will be finalised by the conveners and then distributed to all interested parties asking them to provide some basic information about their scientific background and about their interest to contribute to a Mediterranean environmental assessment. Members will also be asked to invite other experts to join, aiming at establishing a list of partners that cover all relevant scientific domains and also all subregions of the Mediterranean region.

At a later stage, the community will have to decide about a governance structure including a multidisciplinary and multinational steering committee, and consider more formalized aspects of cooperation. In parallel, a first set of tangible objectives will be developed, including one or several assessment reports about the Mediterranean environment. Financial support for networking and assessment will be sought from multiple sources, aiming at a lean and simple structure, based primarily on voluntary contributions.

During 2016, the founding members will seek opportunities to organize a dedicated meeting, or also meetings embedded in other conferences. An opportunity for this could arise during the 2016 MedCLIVAR conference, or also the conference MedCOP22 to be held in Morocco during 2016.

Report

Please find here the full report in English