Agenda

1. Objectives

The Mediterranean region, with its unique biodiversity and rich cultural heritage, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures, increased frequency of extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and changes in oceanographic conditions pose significant threats to the Mediterranean’s marine and coastal ecosystems, affecting local economies, communities, and livelihoods, as we have seen recently in Spain or last year in Libya. Enhancing climate change adaptation in Mediterranean marine and coastal areas requires a coordinated approach that involves scientific research, policy development, and community-based actions. Regional collaboration is vital, as the Mediterranean is a shared space with diverse stakeholders, including coastal nations, local governments, conservation organizations, and industries such as tourism and fisheries. Effective adaptation strategies must address the region’s specific challenges, promoting resilience through ecosystem-based solutions, sustainable resource management, and integrating climate change considerations into spatial planning and development. By fostering cooperation and promoting innovative adaptation measures, the Mediterranean can strengthen its capacity to cope with climate change and ensure a sustainable future for its marine environment and coastal populations. This event will clarify the authorities’ needs with competencies in coastal management regarding the preparation of strategic coastal plans, and where the focus should lie. Priority issues must be addressed when preparing integrated coastal plans to tackle sustainability and resilience challenges. Societies need integrated coastal planning to tackle land and sea use conflicts, reduce the effects of excessive coastal development, secure water availability and quality, build resilience to climate change, and reach and maintain the sustainable development of their territories. Moreover, by implementing integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) principles, it has been proven that some elements should be strengthened, such as:

• governance solutions for engaging stakeholders and decision-makers in the ICZM process, as well as solutions for better institutional vertical and horizontal coordination,
• strengthening ecosystem approaches to planning,
• integrating land and marine planning, taking land-sea interactions into account; and
• enhancing transboundary cooperation.

The panelists will discuss solutions for dealing with management and governance issues in an uncertain world in the context of coastal areas. With the first ICZM Protocol, the Mediterranean Regional Sea is an example to follow. This event will showcase lessons learned based on the experience of more than 20 Coastal Area Management Programmes (CAMPs) developed over 30 years and 7 Coastal Plans developed since the entry of the ICZM Protocol into force. This event will share lessons learned from coastal climate adaptation efforts in the Mediterranean, focusing on two main lines of action: mainstreaming climate change adaptation strategies in coastal plans and facilitating access to climate financing to scale up adaptation measures in the region. The activities of the MedProgramme SCCF and Child Project 2.1. are fully integrated in the preparation of Coastal Plans in the Mediterranean, and the shared lessons learned will particularly focus on recent efforts in Montenegro and Morocco. Additional experiences from Croatia and Tunisia will be presented.

2. Introductory keynote presentations / Event show flow

The event will start with the opening words by Ms Mirey Atallah, the Chief of the Adaptation and Resilience Branch within UNEP’s Climate Change Division. One presentation with three short interventions (in total for a max of 15 min) will follow:

1. Ms. Daria Povh Skugor, PAP/RAC Director, will present the coastal planning in the Mediterranean and PAP/RAC’s efforts in the field, with a focus on the Croatian case studies of Sibenik-Knin County and the plans that were developed following its success;
2. Ms. Tamara Brajovic, Acting Director General of the Directorate for Nature Protection in the Montenegrin Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Region Development, will present the current efforts of coastal management plan preparation for the Boka Kotorska Bay in Montenegro;
3. Mr. Ante Ivcevic, PAP/RAC Programme Officer, will introduce the panelists to the Moroccan efforts of the Coastal plan preparation for the region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima in Morocco and the focus of such a process on coastal adaptation.

These introductory presentations will be followed by a panel discussion (lasting around 30 minutes). Ms. Daria Povh Skugor and Mr. Ante Ivcevic will moderate both panels.

• Panel Discussion: Planning for coastal resilience and access to climate financing Panel Discussion will showcase the MedProgramme SCCF and Child Project 2.1. efforts in the region, with a particular focus on Montenegro and Morocco. These two countries are currently finalizing their coastal plans, and their experience in mainstreaming climate change adaptation strategies serves as a fresh input on the needs of coastal management authorities during the process of strategic coastal planning. In addition, some successful experiences will be presented as an inspiration for enhancing coastal resilience. Particular emphasis will be placed on the importance of strategic coastal planning, governance and access to climate financing. The participants of the panel are:

1. 1. Ms. Tamara Brajovic, Acting Director General of the Directorate for Nature Protection in the Ministry of Tourism, Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Region Development, Montenegro;
   2. Mr. Salah Eddin Ait Bella, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation of International Cooperation Projects, Morocco, Ministry of the Environment, Morocco;
   3.  Mr. Michaël Karner, Project Coordinator at Plan Bleu/RAC, in charge of the MedProgramme SCCF and Child Project 2.1. activities in Morocco and Montenegro.
   4. Mr. Michael Scoullos, Chair of the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP – Med);
   5. Mr. Mehdi Ben Haj, Director of Littoral Planning & Rehabilitation. Tunisian National Littoral Protection & Planning Agency;
   6. Ms. Višnja Grgasović, head of the Sector for Financing, Implementation and Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions at the Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition;
   7. Mr. Théophile Bongarts, Head of Coastal Adaptation at Ocean & Climate Platform, France.

• Q&A and Interactive Discussion: Mr. Ante Ivcevic – Open the floor to questions from the audience and facilitate a panel discussion on key takeaways.
• Wrap-Up by Ms. Daria Povh Skugor Ms. Mirey Atallah, : Closing remarks summarizing the main insights discussed during the event, and emphasizing the need for continued dialogue and collaboration. This event is not just a one-time discussion, but a starting point for ongoing efforts towards climate action.