Mediterranean Cities Apply Climate Adaptation Steps to Sea Level Rise

The Mediterranean is vulnerable to the slow onset of sea level rise. The region’s SLR rate is at 3 cm per decade, and global estimates project this sea level rise to continue in the coming centuries. By 2100, the region could see a sea level rise of 110 cm or higher under a high emissions scenario.

In combination with extreme events becoming frequent and intense due to climate change, sea level rise will significantly impact the Southern and Eastern shores with low adaptive capacities and low-lying coasts found in deltas like Alexandria, the Nile Delta, lagoons such as Venice, and tidelands and islands like Kerkennah archipelago in Tunisia.

On 26 April 2022, The Ocena and Climate Platform (OCP), through its Sea’ties initiative, held an online workshop on “Adapting coastal cities to sea level rise in the Mediterranean Region, ” bringing more than 40 experts to share, connect, and discuss common challenges and practices.

The OCP is an international network of more than 90 organisations from NGOs, research institutes, local authorities, international organisations, and private sectors, bounded by a key message – “a healthy ocean for a protected climate.”

Based on the workshop and interviews of participants’ experiences, the Sea’ties initiative produced a report, “Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in the Mediterranean Region, Challenges and Best Practices “.

The report provides an overview of the main obstacles coastal managers from the Mediterranean region face in adapting their cities.

Accordingly, it addresses the issues of how to design sustainable adaptation strategies through a coordinated approach at the regional and local levels; how to articulate measures over time, particularly in the context of transforming critical sectors such as tourism.

The report also highlights various best practices that have successfully addressed SLR in the region. These include implementing coastal protection measures like dikes and seawalls, ecosystem-based adaptation strategies, and sustainable land use planning.

It also stresses the importance of collaboration and engagement among governments, local authorities, researchers, stakeholders and the community in developing urgent and effective climate adaptation strategies against sea level rise and other climate risks.

The common challenges and best practices shared by participants in this report offer a valuable guide to policymakers and stakeholders in developing their coastal adaptation strategies.

Read the full report by clicking the link in the “Source” section below.