MedECC - Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change

Strengthening the science-policy interface on climate and

environmental change in the Mediterranean: the MedECC network

MedECC (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change) is an open and independent network of scientists founded in 2015. This network of experts assesses the best available scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change and the associated risks in the Mediterranean Basin in order to make these results accessible to decision-makers, stakeholders and citizens. Since 2018, Plan Bleu has hosted the Scientific Secretariat of MedECC in the frame of a partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

The network has over 700 scientific members from 35 countries, 19 of these members are Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and 23 are members of the UfM.

Main Objectives

• Strengthen the scientific network on climate and environmental change and its impacts throughout the Mediterranean Basin
• Facilitate data sharing across this network
• Update and consolidate the best scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change in the Mediterranean basin and make it accessible to political decision-makers, key stakeholders and citizens.
• Strengthen the link between scientific research and decision-making by contributing to the improvement of local, regional and national policies, by providing consolidated scientific assessments on specific themes and by responding to the demands of decision-makers.

Coordination

MedECC is coordinated by three scientific coordinators: Prof. Wolfgang Cramer (CNRS, Mediterranean Institute of Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE), France), Prof. Fatima Driouech (Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco) and Dr Joël Guiot (CNRS, European Centre for Research and Teaching in Environmental Geoscience (CEREGE), France), as well as by the Steering Committee composed of 17 members.

Key publications

TheFirst Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1), published in November 2020, presents the current situation and the future risks related to the impacts of environmental changes on the Mediterranean Basin. This report is the result of an immense collaboration in which 190 scientists from 25 countries participated on a voluntary basis.

The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of MAR1, also released in 2020, highlights the key messages of this report. In order to facilitate the dissemination of this project across the Mediterranean Basin, the summary is available in several languages: French, English, Spanish, Catalan, Arabic, Turkish and Grec.

In November 2020, MedECC also published anew infographic that summarizes the risks and impacts associated with environmental change in the Mediterranean Basin. It is currently available in three languages: French, English and Turkish.

Political recognition and distinctions

During the 2nd UfM Ministerial Conference on Environment and Climate Action held on 4 October 2021 in Cairo (Egypt), the 42 ministers recognized, in their declaration, SPM as an important contribution of the scientific community to future climate and environmental actions in the Mediterranean region.

During the 22nd meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention COP22 (Antalya, Turkey), the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) was endorsed by the Contracting Parties. MedECC and the main messages of MAR1 were presented by Lina Tode, the deputy director of Plan Bleu during the side event of climate change on December 8, 2021.

MedECC received on December 9, 2021 in Lisbon the North-South Prize 2020 of the Council of Europe for “its efforts to address climate change and biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean and in particular by drafting the first-ever scientific assessment on climate and environmental changes impacts in the Mediterranean Basin”..