Today, Mediterranean countries face a shared and urgent threat: climate change. Rising temperatures, water scarcity, droughts, wildfires, and sea level rise impact both shores, with serious consequences for economic growth, security, and migration. As a climate change hotspot, the region urgently needs a unified voice in climate diplomacy. Despite common risks, Mediterranean countries remain divided in their responses. Only collective strategies and joint action can effectively address these challenges.
In this context, COP29 represents a watershed for the Mediterranean region offering a crucial opportunity to present a unified voice, push for tailored solutions, and influence global climate action. It also provides a platform to address security issues, promoting regional cooperation for a more resilient future. At the same time, innovative initiatives around the Mediterranean can serve as a global first mover for a new model of cooperation of win-win partnerships at the global scale, contributing significantly to COP29 results, in line with COP28 outcomes and looking forward to COP30.
To this end, the MATTCCh, a network of think tanks and research centers representing 25 institutions across 10 Mediterranean countries, will host an event at the Mediterranean pavilion at COP29. The event, titled Navigating Climate Challenges: A Collective Approach for the Mediterranean at COP29, aims at exploring the Mediterranean region’s climate and energy related challenges and set the agenda of priorities across key climate policy areas on regional adaptation, finance and energy. Focusing on inputs and insight provided by the experts and practitioners members of the Alliance ahead of COP29, the event is intended as an outcome of a collective reflection proposing actionable recommendations for regional stakeholders.
Agenda
Opening and Keynote speech
Grammenos Mastrojeni, Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean
Panel discussion
Moderation: Giulia Giordano, Director of Mediterranean and Global Strategy, ECCO – the Italian Climate Change Think Tank
- Bengisu Özenç, Founding Director, Sefia
- Alicia Perez Porro, Head of Policy Engagement & Institutional Relations, CREAF
- Iskander Erzini Vernoit, Co-Founder and Director, Imal Initiative for Climate and Development tbc
- Yeganeh Forouheshfar, EMEA – Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association tbc
Discussion and inputs with MATTCCh representatives and the public
Conclusions by Giulia Giordano, Director of Mediterranean and Global Strategy, ECCO – the Italian Climate Change Think Tank
