Information on national adaptation actions reported under the Governance Regulation

Spain has a total surface area of 506,023 km2, being the second largest country in the European Union. It is part of the Iberian Peninsula, together with Portugal. In addition to the Spanish mainland, the country also includes the archipelagos of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

The relief of Spain is characterized by its mountainous nature and its organization into large units around an inland plateau, the Meseta, at more than 600 meters above mean sea level. This is divided into two sub-plains by the Central System, and around it are located mountain systems, depressions and peripheral mountain ranges. The layout of the mountain systems, with a general direction from west to east, except for the Iberian System and the Catalan Coastal Mountain Ranges, has a great influence on the climate, as it establishes natural barriers to the penetration of humid air masses from the Atlantic.

Due to its geographical location, Spain is under the influence of two very different seas, the Atlantic Ocean, which is open and large, and the Mediterranean Sea, which is only connected to the previous one through a small opening, the Strait of Gibraltar, which allows for an exchange between the waters of both, with very different salinity and temperature. The Spanish coastline extends along 7,876 km of coastline, divided between the peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.

Due to its complex orography and geographical location, Spain has a remarkable climatic variety, ranging from humid Atlantic conditions, with annual rainfall of more than 2000 mm, to large semi-arid areas, with severe hydrological stress, and even cold alpine climates in some isolated areas. This climatic diversity is the result of its latitudinal location on the northern edge of the subtropical belt, its complex orography dotted with major mountain ranges, its peninsular nature, and the presence of two surrounding bodies of water with very different characteristics: the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, extreme events such as droughts, heat waves, or severe rainfall and floods are recurrent phenomena.

The natural regime of rivers depends mainly on rainfall, either through surface runoff or through underground contributions. Spain's great climatic diversity, together with other morphological and geological aspects, explains the great hydrological contrasts that exist. Spain is a country particularly affected by the phenomenon of drought, with an enormous variability in rainfall, with occasional heavy rains. These characteristics have forced the hydrographic basins to be intensely regulated by means of numerous reservoirs with a total capacity of over 55,000 hm3.

Spain is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the European Union and belongs to an area designated as one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots on the planet. Its geographical position, its rich geological diversity, the great climatic, orographic and edaphic variability, the paleobiogeographic history and the existence of islands are some of the factors that have led to this high biological diversity as well as a high rate of endemicity.

The number of vascular plants, for example, exceeds 8,000 species, of which nearly 1,500 are endemic. This represents about 85% of the vascular plant species inventoried in the European Union and half of the European endemic species. Regarding animal species, Spain is home to approximately half of the 142,000 species estimated for Europe. It is also one of the EU Member States in which it is possible to find the largest and most numerous areas of territory in a natural or semi-natural state.

Spain has four of the nine biogeographical regions of the European Union (Atlantic, Alpine, Mediterranean and Macaronesian), which is associated with very different flora and fauna communities. The diversity of the physical environment results in the existence of a great diversity of ecological niches. The paleogeography and palaeoclimatology of the Iberian territory led to the arrival and sequential extinction of floristic and faunal elements from different origins that have shaped the biological communities present today. The insular nature of part of this territory is another factor that contributes substantially to the richness and high rates of endemicity in Spain. In addition to the aforementioned factors, it should be noted that the very human history associated with the settlement of the Iberian Peninsula and the islands has shaped the natural environment of Spain.

According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the resident population in Spain on 1st January 2022 is 47,432,893 inhabitants, 0.07% more than the previous year and 16% more than in 2002.

The demographic balance is negative, as there are currently more deaths than births each year in Spain, which means that the population is shrinking and is undergoing an ageing process, only compensated by the effect of immigration (figure 2. Source: National Institute of Statistics).

The demographic evolution in Spain in recent years has been shaped by a high population growth between 2000 and 2009, mainly due to the strong increase in the foreign population, followed by a stabilization with small fluctuations from 2010 onwards. Spain's foreign migration balance, which was negative between 2010 and 2015, has been positive again since 2016, giving rise once again to population growth, which was slowed down by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. (figure 1. Source: National Institute of Statistics).

There are almost one million more women than men and foreign residents represent 11.4% of the population. The birth rate stands at 7.12 births per 1,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest rates in the EU. The percentage of children in the total population is only 13.97%. In contrast, the percentage of people over 65 years constitutes 20.08% of the total population and will continue to increase in the coming years and could reach 32% of the population by the middle of the century.

Spain has a regressive population pyramid, with a narrower base than the central area, reflecting an ageing society with a tendency to become older. With one of the highest life expectancies in the world, Spaniards live on average more than 83 years. (figure 3. Source: National Institute of Statistics)

On the other hand, a large part of Spain is suffering from a worrying depopulation. For decades, the migration from rural areas to cities has led to sharply negative population trends in smaller municipalities, threatening their continuity, which also produces a significant increase in pressure on environmental quality in cities.

In the last decade, depopulation has become an even more widespread process, and no longer linked only to the smallest municipalities. From 2010 to 2019, 76.6% of municipalities have lost population, most of them with less than 1,000 inhabitants. But depopulation already affects 63% of small towns and more than half of the provincial capitals.

In addition, it is important to consider the impact of the floating population which, mainly as a result of tourism, produces significant cyclical and seasonal population variations in certain regions.

Current economic situation

As indicated in the "Spanish Economic Situation Report" of 2022, prepared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the current economic situation continues to be influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a sharp drop in activity in the second quarter of 2020, an economic recovery began and gained intensity in the course of 2021. Even in a particularly complex European and international context, in which the shock of the pandemic has been compounded by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Spanish economy continued to grow strongly in the first half of the year, driven by job creation, investment and the positive tone of the foreign sector.

Labour force

At the sectoral level (figure 4. Source: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation), the Spanish economy continues to be characterized by a dominant role of the services sector, which accounts for approximately 75% of Spanish Gross Value Added in 2020. In relative terms, industry and construction occupy the second and third positions. For its part, agriculture maintains a limited weight, close to 3.4%.

Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) indicate that in 2022 the total active population was 23.4 million people and the unemployment rate stood at 12,9%.

Employment is distributed as follows in 2022: service sector 76.1%, industry 13.6%, construction 6.5% and agriculture 3.8%.

Information by sector:

1. Industry

Spanish industrial activity has followed a cycle similar to the general economic activity. Traditionally, it has shown significant procyclical behavior and greater volatility, a trend that has been confirmed until recent years (table 1. Source: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation).

According to the Structural Business Statistics, the turnover of the Industrial Sector in 2020 decreased by 11.3% with respect to the previous year and stood at 604,088 million euros. The annual average of employed personnel almost reached 2.3 million people: https://www.ine.es/dyngs/IN[…]Datos&idp=1254735576550

By sector of activity, manufacturing industry accounted for 82.3% of billings, followed by electricity, gas, and air conditioning supply (13.4%), water supply, sewerage and waste management (3.8%) and mining and quarrying (0.6%). By branches of activity, we can highlight the food and agriculture industry (18.1%), production, transport and distribution of electric power (11.1%), the distribution of electrical energy (11.1%), and manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (10.1%).

2. Energy

The Spanish energy sector has undergone a constant transformation, seeking to reduce foreign energy dependence, improve the environment and competitiveness.

Since 2000, Spain has been committed to energy efficiency and renewable energies as pillars of planning. Renewable energies, in 2020, have contributed 21.22% of gross final consumption, with shares in heating contribution of 21.22% of gross final consumption, with shares in heating and cooling of 17.97%, 42.94% in electricity and 9.54% in transport.

In terms of primary energy (figure 5. Source: The Spanish Government’s Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy / Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation), we can highlight the drop in the weight of petroleum products which, together with the increased participation of renewable energy sources and natural gas, which has led to an increase in energy diversification. In 2020 there has been an improvement of 2.4 percentage points in the renewable contribution compared to previous years, reaching 16.4% of primary energy demand. This progress responds to the country's commitment to decarbonize the energy system in which clean electricity generation technologies play a key role.

However, the upturn observed in 2020 responds to the outbreak of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and its impact on economic activity with the consequent decrease in energy demand by end-use sectors, which has led to a reduction in energy supply, especially noticeable in non-renewable generation technologies, in contrast to the hydroelectric and solar photovoltaic production. In this context, there has been a 12% drop in primary energy, mostly concentrated in fossil fuels.

The potential for domestic production, together with the degree of energy diversification and the reduction in energy demand, have made it possible to reduce Spain's energy dependence, reaching a value of 68.9% in 2020.

3. Transport

The evolution of the transport sector and its main environmental variables -final energy consumption and atmospheric pollutant emissions- is closely linked to the development and social welfare, domestic demand and social welfare, domestic demand, foreign trade and the performance of the tourism sector.

Spain has specific characteristics that influence transport activity, including its peripheral location with respect to Europe. This geographical location, combined with its high level of development in transport infrastructures, makes it a point of confluence of the main passenger and commercial routes.

This position is reinforced by the Trans-European Transport Network and the two multimodal corridors -Atlantic and Mediterranean- that cross the Peninsula.

In the case of internal mobility, the year 2020 shows the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its major impact with significant declines.

In particular, in 2020, domestic passenger mobility recorded a decrease of -29.5% compared to the previous year, reaching 314,206 million passenger-km, in contrast to the smaller decrease in inland freight transport, which, with a decrease of -5.2%, reached 1,454 million tonnes.

In the case of international transport, for travelers, data is available for all modes up to 2018. In this year there are hardly any changes in the modal split in relation to 2017, with air transport once again becoming the majority mode for the third consecutive year by reaching a share of 50.4%.

International road transport, despite the figures for 2018 (+3.4% compared to the previous year) loses by placing its share at 47.4%. Finally, both maritime transport (1.7%) and rail transport (0.5%) have a reduced contribution, although it should be specified that the former does not take into account cruise traffic.

At the international level and within the freight segment, maritime transport plays a predominant role, and reached a share of 79.2% of the total volume of tonnes transported in 2020. The next most important mode is road transport, with a share of 19.9%, while rail and air transport together account for barely 1% of the total.

4. Tourism

Spain is a consolidated tourist destination and one of the world's leading tourist powers. This intense tourist activity has made this sector one of the basic sectors of the Spanish economy. In 2019, tourism accounted for 12.4% of GDP and 12.7% of the total number of people employed in the Spanish economy (due to the pandemic, in 2020 these percentages were 5.5% and 11.8%, respectively).

The government has considered tourism as a strategic axis for economic recovery. However, it should be noted that the environmental burdens of tourism persist, such as those associated with water consumption, energy consumption and waste generation, as well as external costs (mainly CO2 emissions). In the case of Spain, although this trend is improving, occupancy is seasonal (in 2021, 53% of international tourists travelled to Spain between June and September), which leads to some problems in the use of resources.

5. Waste

In Spain, as in other European countries, waste generation has been closely related to economic growth. In 2019, according to the INE, 133.2 million tons of waste were generated in Spain, 3.3% less than in the previous year.

The contribution of the various activities to waste generation in 2019 is presented in the figure 6 (Source: National Institute of Statistics).

According to data from 2019, the average generation of municipal waste in Spain was 472 kg per inhabitant per year, and in the EU-27 it was 501 kg per inhabitant per year. When analysing the evolution of municipal waste generation in Spain in recent years, it can be seen that generation has been increasing until 2008, only to decrease since then, although since 2015 the upward trend has returned (figure 7. Source: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation / National Institute of Statistics).

In terms of municipal waste management, separate collection accounted for 23.5% of the waste collected in 2019, as shown in figure 8 (Source: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation / National Institute of Statistics).

The Spanish National Adaptation Plan (PNACC) 2021-2030 identifies Climate and climate scenarios as one of the priority areas of work, in line with the previous PNACC. Among the objectives identified are:

- Maintaining and improving atmosphere, land and ocean systematic observation and monitoring of the state of the climate and of key variables of the climate system, including the availability and accessibility of data for both the general public and specialised sectors.

- Maintaining and improving meteorological observation for early warning of adverse weather and climate events, as well as warning services and communication to prevent potential associated impacts.

- Making the best possible knowledge on future climate change scenarios and projections available to all interested parties, so that society can plan its responses with the most reliable and up-to-date information.

- Improving the development of climate services to transform basic climate data and information into specific climate products and applications that are useful for various domains of action.

-Training stakeholders so that they can make the best use of available knowledge, tools and data on scenarios and projection of future climate change.

- CLIMATE MONITORING:

In Spain, atmospheric climate data and analyses are provided by the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET, in its Spanish acronym). Data from the oceanic and terrestrial domains are collected by several institutions. For example, the Spanish Oceanographic Institute and the State Ports Authority are the reference in oceanographic observations. The Directorate-General for Water (MITECO) manages the main water observation networks; and the Autonomous Organisation of National Parks, together with AEMET, OECC and the Biodiversity Foundation, promote the Global Change Monitoring Network in National Parks, an infrastructure for in situ data collection in the National Parks Network. Some Autonomous Communities also have their own observation networks and carry out monitoring work (e.g. the Annual Bulletin of Climate Indicators produced by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia).

The OECC regularly coordinates the compilation of these climate variables. The OECC collected the main evidence available on climate impacts in Spain, covering several relevant systems and sectors, in a study published in 2012 “Evidencias del cambio climático y sus efectos en España” (“Evidence of climate change and its effects in Spain”). In 2020, the study “Impactos y riesgos derivados del cambio climático en España” (“Climate change impacts and risks in Spain”) also reviews some of the main observed effects of climate change and its impacts on sectors.

With regard to the extreme climate events, their impacts and the early warning systems, AEMET is in charge of weather warnings as established in the National Plan for the Prediction and Monitoring of Adverse Meteorological Phenomena (Meteoalerta). This plan aims to provide the most detailed and up-to-date information possible on adverse atmospheric phenomena that may affect Spain, as well as to maintain continuous real-time information on their evolution. These warnings serve as a basis for the corresponding Civil Protection administrations to launch alerts which, in turn, trigger the adoption of measures to respond to the phenomena.

The Spanish Insurance Compensation Consortium (“Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros”) is a public business institution attached to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation covering insurance on extraordinary risks. This Consortium has a register of insured damages caused by floods (fluvial and coastal) and high winds (up to 120 km/h).

- MODELLING, PROJECTIONS AND SCENARIOS

The production of regional climate change scenarios for the Spanish territory throughout the 21st century represents a key element of the National Adaptation Plan (PNACC). AEMET is responsible for coordinating this PNACC component, making them available in AEMET’s climate services website (http://www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/cambio_climat), which includes both numerical and graphic information on the projections of climate change for the 21st century regionalized over Spain and corresponding to different emission scenarios.

In the initial phase of the first PNACC (2006), a first generation of regional projections was produced in 2007, based on the IPCC-TAR scenarios, together with the report "Generation of Regional Climate Change Scenarios for Spain". The second phase produced the collection of projections ‘PNACC-Scenarios 2012', based on the IPCC-4AR scenarios. They were generated from different GCMs and scenarios, using both dynamic and statistical methods. Additionally, a more friendly and user-focused set of products was elaborated, based on the results of a producers-users workshop held in 2011. AEMET produced a third collection of regional climate change scenarios for Spain (PNACC-Scenarios 2017), derived from IPCC AR5 scenarios. Currently, in the context of the first work programme of the PNACC 2021-2030, a new version of the PNACC scenarios is being developed, called PNACC-Scenarios 2023, which will include the statistical regionalisations carried out by AEMET and other research groups, with the SSP scenarios and the information from the global models used in the AR6 of the IPCC, as well as from other recent international projects such as the CORDEX project on dynamic regionalisation, based on regional climate models.

In order to facilitate the use of these downscaled climate change scenarios, OECC, AEMET, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Spanish National Research Council have developed a flexible and friendly tool, the AdapteCCa Climate Change Scenario Viewer (https://escenarios.adaptecca.es/), that allows users to visualise and download data of the last generation of regional climate change projections over Spain.

In addition to PNACC-Scenarios, the CLIVAR-Spain scientific committee (www.clivar.es) publishes assessment reports (some of them available in English) that provide an overview of the Spanish research groups involved in climate science and of the progress made in detecting and projecting climate change in Spain.

Furthermore, a variety of projects have been implemented for the development of sectoral projections in some of the priority areas of the PNACC:

- In the coastal area, the project "Climate Change on the Spanish Coast" (C3E) was implemented by the University of Cantabria, on behalf of the OECC. The objective of the project focused on elaborating databases and developing methodologies and tools aimed at assessing impacts and vulnerability, and identifying adaptation measures that can respond to the needs of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in coastal areas, on a scientific, technical and socio-economic basis, taking into account climate variability and present and future climate change.
- Between 2017 and 2021, an ambitious project has been developed that has allowed the Spanish Autonomous Communities to analyse the risks derived from climate change in their coastal areas. One of the main products of this work, financed with PIMA Adapta funds, has been the development by the Autonomous Communities of geographic information viewers that facilitate the consultation of information related to climate change in their coastal areas. The on-line viewers can be accessed at AdapteCCa (https://adaptecca.es/en/other).

- Regarding the water resources, the assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources and droughts in Spain, completed in 2017, has been carried out by the Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas (CEDEX, for its acronym in Spanish) based on a request from the OECC. The study is an update of a previous study (2010), and the initial climate values are taken from global climate models and emission scenarios used in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report.

- PNACC-Scenarios - The first dataset of climate change scenarios for Spain (PNACC-Scenarios 2012) was based on the global climate projections used in the fourth IPCC report (AR4), using the B1, A1B and A2 emission scenarios, and carried out in the context of the CMIP3 Global Climate Model Intercomparison (GCMs) initiative. These global projections served as the basis for several regionalisation studies applying regional climate models (ENSEMBLES at the European scale and ESCENA at the national scale, both with a resolution of approx. 20km) and statistical regionalisation techniques (AEMET and ESTCENA, with point information for a subset of stations/locations of the AEMET network). The information from these projects was harmonised and made publicly available through AEMET and the ESCENA and ESTCENA projects.

The update of the scenarios for Spain, the PNACC- Scenarios 2017, was based on the information available in the Fifth IPCC report (AR5 - CMIP5) and in the dynamic regionalisation (EURO-CORDEX, a continuation of ENSEMBLES) and statistical (AEMET and VALUE, the latter a continuation of ESTCENA on a European scale) projects. These global projections were based on the CMIP5 generation of emission scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) and the regional projections of EURO-CORDEX were mainly restricted to the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Work is currently underway to generate new downscaled climate projections (PNACC- Scenarios 2023) to align national projections with the global scenarios and models used in the AR6.

The CLIVAR Exchanges special issue "Special Issue on climate over the Iberian Peninsula: an overview of CLIVAR Spain coordinated science", No. 73 (https://www.clivar.org/publications/exchanges), includes detailed information on regional assessment and projections of climate change scenarios on the Iberian Peninsula based on CMIP5 data, including the description and analysis of the PNACC-Scenarios 2017 data.

1. Dynamic Regionalisation: The EURO-CORDEX Initiative:

EURO-CORDEX provides projections with different regional climate models (RCMs), nested to different CMIP5 global climate models, for the historical scenario and the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emissions scenarios. For Europe the standard resolution is 0.11°.

Representative observational data for regional climate in Spain are taken from Spain02_v5, an interpolated gridded observational dataset generated within the framework of EURO-CORDEX (Herrera et al. 2016; available at http://www.meteo.unican.es/datasets/spain02). This information source provides daily precipitation and temperature data between 1971 and 2015, on the same 0.11º grid used by the EURO-CORDEX models. The periods considered are 1971-2000 for the observed and historical climate simulated by the RCMs, and 2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100 for the future periods corresponding to the projections of the RCMs according to the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emissions scenarios.

2. Statistical Regionalisation: The VALUE Initiative

This project has counted with the participation of the Santander Meteorology Group (CSIC-UC) and AEMET, which have contributed with different techniques based on transfer functions and analogues, thus covering a wide range of methods. Three of the techniques analysed in this project, together with an additional AEMET technique based on analogues, have been applied to generate projections for the PNACC-Scenarios 2017 over the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.

The projections obtained by applying these statistical regionalisation techniques (SDMs) to data from a series of locations in the AEMET network of stations are point projections. The available projections come from two sources:

- AEMET's climate services (Climate Projections for the 21st Century, Statistical Regionalisation, AR5-IPCC, Analogue Methods and SDSMs).

- The climate data service of the University of Cantabria (ANALOG, GLM, MLR methods).

Additionally, two daily data sources are considered as reference for the above data: the AEMET network of stations used for the calibration of the statistical regionalisation techniques and the Spain02 grid of observations (based on the same EUROCORDEX grid), in both cases for minimum and maximum temperature, and precipitation.

The information from the 2017 PNACC-Scenarios is distributed through AEMET (http://www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/cambio_climat) and the "AdapteCCa climate change scenario viewer" (https://escenarios.adaptecca.es/), which allows the visualisation of the information of the original variables, as well as different climate indices defined in the basis of them.

EURO-CORDEX projections for the available scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 have been included in this viewer, considering both original values and values adjusted using a bias adjustment method included in the VALUE intercomparison (EQM quantile adjustment method described and validated together with other alternative bias adjustment methods in Gutierrez et al. 2019: https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5462). Recommendations on the use of adjusted data advise that both original and adjusted values should be provided (see Casanueva et al. 2020: https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.978). Both have therefore been included in the viewer, so that the results can be compared and the uncertainty due to this factor can be analysed for each of the indices.

Following the publication of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), the plans are to stay aligned with the strategy at AR6, so scenarios will be calculated for historical (1950-2014) and SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SS3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios (2015-2100), both using dynamical downscaling (EUROCORDEX, https://www.euro-cordex.net/index.php.en) and statistical downscaling. An analysis of models’ performance has already taken place. It has been agreed with CORDEX community to define common framework including a minimum set of models. Additionally, statistical downscaled scenarios will be calculated for a larger number of models. A thorough evaluation of statistical techniques is in progress (see https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7271, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7464, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7611)). Some conclusions have been reached, but there are still some tests to be done. Regarding RCMs, simulations from EUROCORDEX have already started, but aren’t expected to be ready until 2024. Once ready, an evaluation will be produced, and selected models will be incorporated.

It is also planned to make these projections freely available through AEMET's climate services website, as well as the AdapteCCa Scenario Viewer. The bias correction methods, the distillation of global and regional scenario results and the dissemination of good practice in the use of projection data for impact and vulnerability analysis are still areas for further improvement.

TOOLS:

- The AdapteCCa Climate Change Scenario Viewer (http://escenarios.adaptecca.es/) - In order to facilitate the use of these downscaled climate change scenarios, OECC, AEMET, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Spanish National Research Council have developed a flexible and friendly tool that allows users to search for data according to their needs. This viewer allows to visualise and download data of the last generation of regional climate change projections over Spain. Two kinds of projections are available: those produced with statistical methods, which are part of the Spanish National Adaptation Plan (PNACC), as well as the projections produced with regional models of the atmosphere inside the european branch of the international meta-project CORDEX.

This tool of climate projections and services has a visual and intuitive interface with graphic and cartographic facilities and downloadable products, and it has been integrated in the adaptation platform AdapteCCa. This friendly tool, tailored to user needs , maintains its own system of permanent updating and communication with users through a specific Working Group integrated by all the institutions involved in its development, which jointly make decisions on its implementation and respond to user queries, keeping the viewer as a living tool.

- Regarding the sectoral projections and tools, the results of the project "Climate Change on the Spanish Coast" (C3E), completed in 2014 and based on the projections of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, include a series of tools - freely available to all stakeholders - that support the integration of climate change adaptation into the planning and management of coastal zones. These tools are a WEB viewer for consulting results (https://c3e.ihcantabria.com/), with a simulator of changes in coastal dynamics due to climate change, and the report "Climate Change on the Spanish Coast". All this has served as a basis for the elaboration of the "Strategy for the Adaptation of the Spanish Coast to Climate Change" and is also reflected in the framework document of the Marine Strategies. The capabilities of these tools include numerical and geo-referenced queries of the main climatic-oceanographic variables affecting coastal dynamics, including waves, pressure, wind and sea level, for periods of current climate or future climate, the main impacts of climate change on coastal zones, including beach retreat due to sea level rise, sediment transport, the exposure to different levels of flooding, the vulnerability of territorial units in terms of population, land use and natural assets, etc.

- The Spanish Autonomous Communities have developed viewers of climate change in their coastal areas. The on-line viewers can be accessed at AdapteCCa (https://adaptecca.es/en/other)

- On the assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources and droughts in Spain (CEDEX, 2017), the study is complemented by an application (CAMREC: https://www.adaptecca.es/ca[…]en-espana-aplicacion-camrec) that allows to visualized the maps in GIS apps.

Climate change exacerbates the existing and chronic problem of land degradation and desertification in some Spanish regions, with consequences in soil productivity and water quality.

Intensive agriculture farming linked to overexploitation of water resources leads to severe risks to both surface and groundwater bodies in terms of quality and quantity, which climate change exacerbates.

High demands and overexploitation of natural resources, such as water, soil or forests are existing pressures that are also being aggravated by climate change, as happens also with the overexploitation of marine resources and the intensive occupation of the coastline.

Water quality deterioration can be intensified by alterations to the hydrological cycle due to climate change.

Temporal peak demands of water, food and energy concentrated in coastal urban and tourism areas are also pressures that will be significantly affected by climate change, which poses an additional challenge for this massive seasonal tourism.

Air quality may get worse under the effects of climate change. In cities, the concentration of certain gases may increase under conditions of higher luminosity and temperature increases.

Fragmentation of the territory is one of the main pressures for biodiversity. The impacts of climate change in Spain affects the suitable climate for many species and populations, and fragmentation challenges the options of adapting by preventing shifting their distribution along the space to their climate niche.

There are many strong interrelationships among key climate-related hazards in Spain that, acting simultaneously, can greatly increase their effects and consequences. For example, heat waves, droughts and extreme winds multiply the forest fire risk, or coastal flooding become stronger and more severe when at the same time sea level rise, heavy precipitation and storm surge happen.

Some examples of cascading effects from the climate-related hazards identified on Spanish ecological systems and economic sectors are:

Decrease in water resources due to changing precipitation patterns and longer droughts has implications for agriculture and livestock farming, urban supply, hydroelectric production, and ecosystems.

Spread of invasive species, that is one of the most important pressures on biodiversity in Spain, can be increased as a secondary effect of climate change that benefits generalist species with a rapid colonizing capacity. They can also have potential implications for human health.

Increasing forest fire risk projected in Spain, as concluded by several EU and national research projects that have analysed the effect of climate change on fire risk in Spain using the "Fire Weather Index".

Impacts on human health, as climate change affects the health of the Spanish population through its direct effects - heat waves and other extreme events, such as floods and droughts - but also through indirect effects (increase in atmospheric pollution and aeroallergens, change in the distribution of disease-transmitting vectors, loss of water or food quality).

The Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on Climate Change and Energy Transition, establishes that the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC) is the basic planning instrument for promoting coordinated and coherent action to tackle the effects of climate change in Spain. The PNACC defines objectives, criteria, areas of work and lines of action to promote adaptation and resilience to climate change.

The PNACC 2021-2030 (approved in 2020) is part of the strategic energy and climate framework, a set of instruments including the Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on Climate Change and Energy Transition, the long-term strategy for a modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy by 2050, the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan for 2021-2030 and the Just Transition strategy. These documents also include climate change adaptation and have clear connections to the PNACC.

The Law also states that the PNACC will be developed through Work Programmes (WP), to be implemented over five-year periods. The Work Programme 2021-2025 details the measures to be implemented in the first five years of the PNACC's development and provides information on the entities responsible for implementing them. It also specifies the associated reporting, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The Work Programme has been developed with contributions from 18 ministries, as well as various state agencies and autonomous bodies. It has also been subject to a period of public consultation and participation.

SSpain is a decentralized country with the competences in disaster risk planning and climate change adaptation distributed among the different administrative levels: central, regional and local. To guarantee adequate coordination, there is a solid governance scheme that brings together institutions, coordination bodies, working and advisory groups for an optimum planning and management of CCA and DRR.

The law 7/2021 on Climate Change and Ecological Transition states that the Ministry for the ecological transition, in collaboration with other departments and regional governments, shall produce a report on the evolution of climate change impacts and risks. This report shall be produced at least every 5 years. The Spanish Climate Change Office has initiated the impacts and risk assessment by holding 3 workshops with different stakeholders: social partners & civil society organizations, regional governments and scientists. These workshops will feed the assessment`s scope and methodology.

The Spanish Climate Change Office (OECC) plays a central role as the national hub on adaptation and as the coordination body in charge of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the main adaptation instrument in Spain at national level: the PNACC.

Regarding planning, OECC concluded in 2020 the process of elaboration of the second PNACC 2021-2030 by means of a comprehensive governance scheme and participatory approach. The planning process has included seminars, online surveys, ad-hoc working meetings with sectoral institutions, public consultation (with more than 1.500 feedbacks from 182 organizations and stakeholders) and monographic discussions inside the high-level climate change coordination and participation bodies in Spain. In short, the planning process of the PNACC 2021-2030 has been developed under an inclusive participation of a wide range of institutions, organizations and stakeholders.

The implementation of the PNACC is done through Work Programmes, which are adopted following a similar governance scheme and participatory approach. The OECC is the technical central unit that coordinates, manages, and follows up the implementation of the PNACC. Main climate change high-level coordination and participation bodies are the National Climate Council (CNC), the Coordination Commission of Climate Change Policies (CCPCC) and the Sectoral Conference on the Environment.

The Working Group on Impacts and Adaptation (GTIA, in Spanish) is the technical working group set up under the CCPCC as the technical exchange forum that brings together departments of the Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities with the general objective of coordinating and integrating the different strategies and plans for climate change adaptation being developed at national and regional level in Spain.

Additionally, the National Civil Protection Council is the body for cooperation and coordination among all the Spanish Administrations for disaster risk reduction.

Regarding the monitoring of the PNACC and its Work Programmes, monitoring reports are regularly prepared by OECC in consultation with the Working Group on Impacts and Adaptation. So far, monitoring reports have been published in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2021.

Regarding evaluation of the PNACC, the first evaluation report was published in 2019 and covers the period since its inception in 2006. This in-depth evaluation involved a wide array of institutions and a governance scheme planned and executed around four main lines: (i) an ad-hoc advisory group that included experts from European, national, regional and local institutions, academia and NGOs; (ii) a synthesis of the documents derived from the PNACC (the PNACC itself, the three Work Programmes and the four Monitoring Reports); (iii) a detailed analysis of the state of implementation of the measures included in the PNACC and its three Work Programmes; (iv) a consultation to a large number of institutions and individuals (more than 300) that have been participating in the implementation of the PNACC. The evaluation assessed the progress achieved, the pending challenges and the lessons learned. The evaluation process led to provide a set of recommendations to be taken into account in the revision of the next adaptation cycle and identified remaining challenges and emerging issues which have been integrated in the new PNACC 2021-2030.

Both Strategic Environmental Assessment of plans and programs (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment of projects (EIA) are processes where the dimension of the possible effects of climate change in the short, medium and long term are being considered in Spain, at national and regional levels. The Law 21/2013, of December, on Environmental Assessment, includes the obligation to take into consideration the potential climate change impacts on the plan, program or project under evaluation and the identification of adaptation measures.

On a regular basis, the OECC is consulted to inform projects, plans and programs in order to guarantee the integration of climate change impacts and adaptation into the environmental assessment process. In the recent period, integration of climate change impacts and resilience into environmental assessment procedures has been produced in the water sector, coastal and urban planning, energy, biodiversity conservation, agriculture, transport and infrastructures.

Through this Environmental Assessment procedure for projects, the implementation of the "Technical guidelines on climate change defence of infrastructures for the period 2021-2027" is being promoted. The observation of this document is important in order to:
- Carry out the calculation of the carbon footprint taking into account all phases of the infrastructure life cycle.
- Guide on vulnerability assessment and climate risk analysis, which are the basis for determining, assessing and implementing adaptation measures for projects.

Further progress has been made in this process in terms of the tools that have been made available to the public in various sectors to include climate change aspects in this procedure:

In 2022, the General Direction for Environmental Quality and Assessment published the "Recommendations for assessing the most relevant impacts of irrigation modernisation projects and for drawing up their environmental documents" and the "Guide for drawing up environmental impact studies for solar photovoltaic plant projects and their evacuation infrastructures". Both include criteria for the incorporation of climate change adaptation.

In railways, in 2020 Adif made available to developers the Adif General Standard (NAG) "Methodology for risk analysis and adaptation to the effects of climate change", which aims to establish the methodology for analysing the risk and adaptation to the effects of climate change of railway projects under Adif's responsibility.

The framework for disaster risk management in Spain is the National Civil Protection Strategy, adopted in 2019, and for adaptation to climate change is the new National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2021-30 adopted in 2020. The National Civil Protection Strategy has identified and described the key climate-related risks in Spain, that are well described and characterized with the projections of climate change.

For each of the key climate-related risks identified there are one or more planning and management instruments, where progressively climate change adaptation is integrated in a process facilitated by the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Multiple governance bodies and working groups dealing with each specific climate-related risk (e. g., floods, heat waves, droughts) are facilitation this integration.

OECC is regularly assessing and disseminating data and information on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation by means of the Spanish Adaptation platform AdapteCCa.

AdapteCCa includes tools that allow users to access to databases and information in graphical, geographical and numerical formats. AdapteCCa also provides direct access to impacts and risk sectoral assessments.

AdapteCCa users can re-use freely all data and products from the platform, considering the terms of use of the data sources.

Other sources of relevant data for climate change adaptation are maintained in different institutions and databases such as the Spanish Meteorological Agency, the Spanish Oceanographic Institute, the State-owned Spanish Port System, the National Statistical Institute and others.

The PNACC 2021-2030 sets out the following specific objectives:
- Reinforce systematic observation, regionalised climate change projections and climate services
- Knowledge generation on impacts, risks and adaptation, methodologies and tools to analyse impacts of climate change
- Strengthening adaptation capacities
- Identify the main climate change risks and support implementation of adaptation measures
- Integrate adaptation into public policies
- Promote the involvement of all interested actors, governments, private sector, social organisations and the general public, to actively contribute to address climate change risks
- Strengthen governance on adaptation
- Fulfil and develop the commitments acquired by Spain in the EU and international context
- Promote the monitoring and evaluation of adaptation policies and measures

A systematic study of gaps and barriers to adaptation has not been carried out in the framework of the National Adaptation Plan. However, the topic was addressed in the in-depth evaluation carried out in 2019, as well as in various participatory workshops organised to collect assessments and inputs for the new Adaptation Plan 2021-2030. Some of the most relevant ones are highlighted below.

CHALLENGES
- Education: Full integration of capacity building for adaptation into technical and vocational training.
- Monitoring: Implementation of an indicator-based monitoring system on impacts related to climate change (already foreseen in PNACC 2021-2030).

GAPS
- Knowledge gaps: knowledge gaps persist, e.g. knowledge on transboundary effects or cost-benefit analysis methodologies is still very limited.
- Knowledge transfer gaps: there are still difficulties in applying scientific knowledge in the development of practical adaptation initiatives.

BARRIERS
- Risk perception: some economic sectors have a low risk perception of climate change, resulting in a lack of interest in adaptation (e.g. tourism sector).
- Sectoral integration: public management is organised on a sectoral basis, making the integration of adaptation into individual public policies difficult and challenging.
- Lack of economic feedbacks: the tax system and the insurance system do not provide sufficient incentives for adaptation.
- Short term policies and measures: the search for short-term results sometimes conflicts with long-term and proactive visions of adaptation.

The National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC, Spanish NAS) 2021-2030 is the basic planning instrument to tackle the effects of climate change in Spain. It defines objectives, criteria, areas of work and lines of action to promote adaptation and resilience to climate change.

The general objective of the PNACC is to promote coordinated and coherent action to address the effects of climate change in Spain in order to avoid or reduce present and future damage from climate change and to build a more resilient economy and society. To achieve this goal, 9 specific objectives to complement the general objective have been defined.

The PNACC sets out a number of guiding principles that will steer adaptation policies and measures. These include the consideration of social and territorial dimensions, the foundation on the best available science and understanding, transversality and integration in different fields of public management, and institutional cooperation. In addition, it emphasises the need to consider a series of basic universal principles, such as respect for human rights and intergenerational justice.

The Plan also identifies 4 strategic components that facilitate the definition and development of effective adaptation initiatives: knowledge generation, integration of adaptation into sectoral plans, programmes and regulations, mobilisation of actors, monitoring and evaluation.

With the aim of facilitating the integration of adaptation actions in the different fields of public and private management, the PNACC defines 18 areas of work. These areas of work include: climate scenarios; human health; water resources; natural heritage, biodiversity and protected areas; agriculture, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and food; coasts and the marine environment; and forestry, desertification, hunting and inland fishing. To these are added: the city, urban planning and building; cultural heritage; energy; mobility and transport; industry and services; tourism; the financial system and insurance activity; disaster risk reduction; research and innovation; education and society; and peace, security and social cohesion.

For each of the aforementioned areas of work, the Plan defines objectives and lines of action that specify the work to be carried out in order to achieve the objectives. The lines of action are presented in the form of fact sheets that include a justification for the interest and a brief description of the orientation. Some of the main departments of the administration responsible for or collaborating in their development are identified and indicators are defined, which will later facilitate the evaluation of the degree of compliance with the defined lines of action.

As a complement to the sectoral action, the PNACC defines 7 transversal aspects, which must be promoted in the different areas of work: the deepening in the geographical and social components of vulnerability to climate change; the analysis of cross-border effects; the gender perspective; the prevention of maladaptation and perverse incentives; the analysis of the costs and benefits of action and inaction; and the orientation towards action. For the practical application of these seven transversal aspects, a number of other lines of action are defined, which are also included in the annexe to this plan.

The varied nature of climate change adaptation actions and the multiplicity of public management areas, administrative units and actors involved mean that the sources of funding for the lines of action contained in this Plan must also be diverse. The PNACC outlines the main instruments and lines of work aimed at strengthening the financing of adaptation, which include specific recovery measures within the Next Generation EU instrument and the European Union Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-27 (with the ERDF, EAGF, EAFRD and EMFF European funds, the LIFE Programme and Horizon Europe), national funds (PIMA ADAPTA and sectoral budgets) and private financing.

Adaptation to climate change requires coordinated and coherent action by Spanish society as a whole and, as such, it requires detailed and action-oriented planning. To organise adaptation planning and programming, the PNACC defines two basic instruments:
- Work programmes: These detail the measures planned, within a specific temporal framework, in order to develop the lines of action defined in the PNACC and identify, where appropriate, priority measures, organizations involved, budget and timeline.
- Sectoral and territorial plans: These are instruments for the detailed planning of adaptation in specific areas of work or territories. These plans include a diagnosis of the main risks outlined in the area in question, the definition of objectives that respond to those risks and a set of measures to meet the objectives.

The first Work Programme (Spanish NAP), for the period 2021-2025, identifies and characterises a total of 257 measures and 11 sub-measures which cover each of the 18 areas of work and seven cross-cutting dimensions defined in the PNACC 2021-2030 and contribute to 85 of its 88 lines of action.

It also provides information on the entities responsible for implementing them and specifies the sources of funding for the different measures and an estimate of the financial resources required by the set of measures foreseen in each of the areas of work. The financial resources expected to be mobilised through the different funding sources have also been estimated. The estimated budget has been 1,548.15 M€, which includes the additional resources required to support the measures included in the Work Programme (to be added to the core resources of the different units involved), and a percentage allocation for measures with multiple objectives, which are very relevant from the point of view of climate change adaptation, even if this is not the main objective of the investments. In these cases, it has been decided to specify percentages of the planned expenditure that can be attributed to adaptation objectives. Some measures of the Work Programme have an institutional character (mainstreaming, sectoral regulations, improved governance, etc.) and their implementation does not require significant additional funding from the agencies and institutions involved. These measures will be fully or partially financed through the budgets of the various administrative units responsible for their implementation.

Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on Climate Change and Energy Transition, dedicates its title V to adaptation to climate change. This law promotes the integration of adaptation into water planning and management, infrastructure planning and management, biodiversity protection, forestry policy, rural development, and urban planning. The incorporation of adaptation into sectoral policies is made concrete and consolidated through its integration into the government´s strategies, plans and programmes, as well as in the set of regulations governing activity in each sectoral area.

Some recent documents (strategies, plans, programmes) in which adaptation to climate change has been incorporated are highlighted below:

Spanish Urban Agenda (2019).

It is a strategic document that seeks to guide sustainable urban policies with social, environmental, and economic objectives. It contains a diagnosis of the urban and rural reality of Spain structured in 10 points. Point 3 is specifically dedicated to Climate Change. It contains a decalogue of priority objectives iincluding "Prevent and reduce the effects of climate change".

National Civil Protection Strategy (2019)

It develops an analysis of the main threats and risks of natural, human and technological origin that may give rise to emergencies and/or disasters, as well as the strategic lines of action to integrate, prioritise and coordinate all efforts to optimise the resources available for their management. Climate change is considered a risk-enhancing factor (section 3.3).

Strategic Framework in SME policy 2030

Action Line 43 ("facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy") includes "promoting information transfer and exchange actions that strengthen the capacities of companies to improve their resilience to climate change and developing methodological guidelines for the integration of adaptation into business strategies in various sectors".

Long-term decarbonisation strategy (2020)

Chapter 5 is devoted to adaptation to climate change. It raises "the need to assume adaptation to climate change as a State policy, due to its profound implications for the economy and the country's natural capital, and with it, the basic conditions to ensure the health and well-being of people of this and successive generations". It presents adaptation measures in 10 thematic areas.

Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030

Section 2.1.2 of the plan is devoted to adaptation to climate change, identifying potential impacts of climate change on the energy system and adaptive measures in the design phase and an analysis of the contribution to adaptation of some of the measures included in the PNIEC.

Strategic Plan for Health and Environment (2021)

The Plan dedicates one of its 14 thematic areas to climate change. In addition, there are others closely related to anthropogenic climate change: "air quality", "water quality", "extreme temperatures" and "disease vectors".

Updating of the Hydrological Planning Regulation (2021)

It includes a new article on adaptation to climate change, which indicates that, throughout each planning cycle, the corresponding river basin organisations will prepare a study on adaptation to the risks of climate change in each river basin district for consideration in the revision of the water management plan

Strategic Guidelines on water and climate change (2022)

This document establishes guidelines for water planning and management in Spain to increase the country's resilience to global warming with a time horizon of 2030.

National Strategy for Green Infrastructure and Ecological Connectivity and Restoration (2021)

One of the goals of the Strategy is "to improve the resilience of the elements linked to Green Infrastructure by enhancing climate change mitigation and adaptation".

Strategic Plan for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity (2022)

Climate change is identified among the main pressures and threats to natural heritage and biodiversity (section 2.2) and as one of the key elements to be addressed for the reduction of threats to natural heritage and biodiversity (section 3.4).

Strategic Plan for Wetlands (2022)

Climate change is identified as one of the main pressures and threats to wetlands (section 3.2). Consequently, the plan identifies, among the challenges to be addressed (chapter 4), "the systematic undertaking of climate change risk analysis in order to propose the most appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures" and includes related measures.

Spanish Forestry Strategy horizon 2050 (2022)

The vision of the Strategy is that by 2050 Spain will have well-conserved forests and forest systems that are more resilient to climate change, protected from major threats and providing the necessary ecosystem goods and services. One of its five strategic axes is dedicated to "Prevention and adaptation of forests to climate change and other risks".

Strategic Framework of the Port System of General Interest

Adaptation to climate change is included among its "general management objectives". Strategic line 11 states that "each Port Authority must have its own climate change adaptation plan, based on an observatory created ad hoc at port system level, taking advantage of the existing ocean-meteorological analysis and forecasting system".

Other areas where strategies, plans and programmes that include adaptation have been produced are:
- BUILDING SECTOR: Law 9/2022, of 14 June, on the Quality of Architecture
- RESEARCH & INNOVATION: State Plan for Scientific Research 2021-2023 (2021)
- EDUCATION: Environmental Education Action Plan for Sustainability 2021-2025
- TRANSPORT: Strategic Framework of the Port System of General Interest and ADIF (Railway Infrastructures Administrator) Climate Change Plan 2018-2030
- NATIONAL SECURITY: National Security Strategy and Comprehensive National Security Culture Plan (2021)

To enable the active and conscious involvement of stakeholders, the PNACC is promoting access to information, communication, social research and public participation on adaptation issues.

a. Access to information

The Spanish Adaptation platform AdapteCCa - https://adaptecca.es/- is a tool to facilitate access to information on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. This project is a joint initiative of the Spanish Climate Change Office and the Biodiversity Foundation which arose within the GTIA. It promotes the coordination and transfer of information, knowledge and experiences between the different Spanish administrations and the scientific community, planners, and managers, both public and private, and other agents, allowing a multi-directional communication channel between them.

AdapteCCa was launched in 2013 after a wide participatory process with potential users and stakeholders. In 2020 and 2021 new functionalities have been included in the platform.

b. Communication

The PNACC has contributed to communicate climate risks and adaptation in Spain by developing communicative resources in different formats:

Exhibition on adaptation to climate change (2018): https://lifeshara.es/[…]/ExposicionAdaptacionLIFESHARA_life.pdf

Short videos on adaptation initiatives (2020-2023):
https://adaptecca.es/experiencias

Press breakfasts on adaptation (2017-2021)
- Beekeeping and climate change (13/12/2017)
- Visualising the future clime: new tools (24/05/2018)
- Climate change adaptation planning for the next decade (09/09/2019)
- Impacts and risks of climate change in Spain (03/02/2021)
- Adaptation case studies in Spain (03/03/2021)

National Adaptation Plan Questions and answers (2021)

c. Social research

Within the framework of the PNACC, support has been given to the development of social studies that will make it possible to recognise, among other issues:
- The evolution of social perceptions of the risks arising from climate change.
- Knowledge of climate change, impacts and adaptation, including the extent to which misconceptions and misunderstandings are pervasive.
- Attitudes to adaptation and possible social barriers to action.

Perception of climate change in Spain (2020)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/percepcioncc_red4c.pdf

Analysis of perceptions, attitudes and opinions of workers and their legal representatives on climate change (2021)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/analisis_cambio_climatico.pdf

Climate risks from a gender perspective. Perception, positioning and adaptation in women and men (2021)
https://adaptecca.es/[…]/riesgosclimaticosperspectivagenero.pdf

d. Public participation

In order to promote the mobilisation of social actors, within the framework of the PNACC:
- Advisory forums and working groups are promoted.
- The development of self-diagnoses on risks, impacts and adaptation to climate change by key actors (companies, trade unions, NGOs and others) is supported.
- Sectoral and cross-sectoral forums for debate and exchange are encouraged.

d.1. Advisory forums and Working Groups

The National Climate Council (CNC), linked to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, involves different Departments of the National Administration, the Autonomous Communities, the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, representatives from research institutions, social actors and nongovernmental organizations. Among its tasks, the Council draws proposals and recommendations to define policies to fight against climate change in the areas of climate change science, impacts and adaptation strategies, as well as strategies to limit GHGs emissions.

The Coordination Commission of Climate Change Policies (CCPCC) is a body for coordination and collaboration between the Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities.

The Working Group on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation (GTIA) is the technical working group set up under the CCPCC to address adaptation issues. It was created in 2007 and its members are representatives from the Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities. Its main task is to coordinate adaptation strategies, plans and actions developed at national and regional level.

The Spanish Citizen´s Climate Assembly has been organized in 2021-2022 has brought together 100 ordinary citizens who have worked to provide recommendations on climate policy. The guiding question for date was: "A safer and fairer Spain in the face of climate change How do we do it?". The final report produced by the assembly included a set of 172 recommendations, presented to the President of the Spanish Government, the presidents of the Spanish Parliament and a number of regional governments and social groups.
 The Committee of Experts on Climate Change and Energy Transition, foreseen in the draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition will be set up shortly. This Committee will facilitate technical and scientifical advice to adaptation and mitigation policies.

d.2. Support for the development of self-assessments by key actors

The OECC, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation, has supported the development of impact and vulnerability assessment and the identification, assessment and dissemination of adaptation measures by social organisations. The following list shows some of the most significant projects undertaken in recent years in the framework of the PNACC:

- Climate change adaptation measures in agriculture and livestock farming
(Unión de Pequeños Agricultores – UPA)
https://www.adaptecca.es/re[…]-frente-al-cambio-climatico
- Agro-ecological practices that adapt to climate change
(Sociedad Española de Agricultura Ecológica – SEAE)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/2018-seae_estudio-adapta-agroecologia.pdf
- Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into protected areas planning and management
(Europarc – España, 2018)
http://www.redeuroparc.org/[…]/01018_manual13_baja.pdf
- Adaptation to climate change in land stewardship projects
(Xarxa de Custodia del Territori, 2018)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/guia_cambio_climatico_y_custodia_2018.pdf
- Adaptation and health protection in the face of climate change. Catalogue of experiences and good practices in public administrations and companies.
(CCOO-ISTAS, 2019)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/catalogo_saludapt_def.pdf
- Employment Vulnerability Map for a Just Transition: Analysis of productive sectors and development of capacities and opportunities for climate change adaptation
(Unión General de Trabajadores – UGT, 2021)
https://www.adaptecca.es/[…]/ugt_estudio_a4_proyecto_mavetj_2021_web.pdf
- Citizen science and climate change
(Asociación Red Camberra,)
- Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures for vector-borne diseases affecting animal health
(Unión Leitera Galega,)
- Adaptation to climate change in the beef sector
(Asociación Española de Productores de Vacuno de Carne – ASOPROVAC)
- ENOADAPTA. Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy in the wine sector
(Asociación Sectorial Forestal Galega, ASEFOGA)
https://adaptecca.es/[…]/manual-final.pdf

d.3. National Adaptation Plan Workshops

The sectoral workshops of the PNACC are meeting spaces aimed at:
- Providing information to a set of key actors on the results of the PNACC projects on the assessment of impacts and vulnerability to climate change in their sector.
- Facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences on climate change adaptation.
- Encouraging reflection and debate on the most appropriate adaptation strategies.
- Collecting contributions of interest for the development of activities in the framework of the PNACC.

The PNACC seminars have facilitated the participation of key actors in sectoral impact assessments on adaptation to climate change through various formulas:
a) Gathering input on the issues to be considered in the impacts, vulnerability and adaptation studies ("scoping").
b) Collaborative identification of sources and documentary resources useful for the assessments.
c) Collective identification and assessment of possible lines and measures of adaptation.
d) Sharing of knowledge and experiences on climate risks and adaptation.
e) Presentation of the results of the studies carried out so far.

To date, 17 thematic seminars have been held. The following thematic seminars have been held in the period 2018-2023:
- Arable and industrial crops (2018).
- Water management in the Iberian context (2018)
- Montados and dehesas (2019)
- Society, education and lifestyles (2019)
- Risk assessments and climate change adaptation (2021)
- Employment, training and capacity building for the ecological transition (2022)
- National assessment of climate risks (2023)

The private sector has a key role to play in adaptation, both through the internalisation of adaptation by companies themselves and by providing resources to third parties through the financial system, as recognised in the National Adaptation Plan (PNACC). The Spanish Climate Change Office (OECC) and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO) promote and support various initiatives to engage with the private sector in implementing adaptation measures.

A pilot project (called Iniciativa ADAPTA - https://www.miteco.gob.es/[…]/iniciativaadaptai2014_tcm30-525012.pdf) has been developed by the OECC in collaboration with five main national companies that are pioneers in climate adaptation in key sectors of the Spanish economy: tourism, energy, transport, construction and food industry. Its main aim was to explore tools to incorporate consideration of risk, vulnerability and adaptation options into different business strategies. A second phase of this pilot project (Iniciativa ADAPTA-2 - http://www.adaptecca.es/sit[…]priorizacion_de_medidas.pdf ) used a variety of methods to undertake cost-benefit analyses of adaptation measures in two main energy and infrastructure companies.

Regarding adaptation knowledge and planning, since 2016, the PIMA Adapta Plan has included several calls for proposals for grants, on a competitive basis, to carry out climate change adaptation projects by different types of entities, including SMEs. Priority lines of action addressed by the beneficiary projects have included, for example, the development and implementation of adaptation business plans and strategies.

In this sense, MITECO has contributed to the development of analyses such as the one prepared by the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB): “Adaptation to climate change in business strategy. Challenges, opportunities and next steps for the food and beverage industry” (https://fiab.es/wp-content/[…]A-ESTRATEGIA-DE-NEGOCIO.pdf).

The participation of the private sector in adaptation policies is also a priority. Forums, such as the sectoral seminars and other participative activities are used to frame and define the contents of the national adaptation policy and associated stakeholder involvement. For example, private sector actors have been actively involved in the multistakeholder seminars developed for the evaluation of the first National Adaptation Plan (70 representatives have participated). Furthermore, with some specific sectors, like the insurance business, and as a result of the multistakeholder seminar, a specific collaboration has been put in place between the OECC and insurance entities that has so far resulted in the publication of the report "Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in the insurance business (2020)”.

Likewise, the private sector has promoted various collaborative initiatives related to climate change, which foster the sector's progress in adapting to its impacts, and which have the collaboration of MITECO.

The Spanish Group for Green Growth is an Association created to foster public-private collaboration and to jointly advance in the current environmental challenges, including adaptation to climate change. Through this platform, companies are encouraged to participate in the most relevant national and international debates on the subject, share information and identify opportunities for Spanish companies.

The Spanish Climate Action Platform, a joint initiative among the OECC, the Spanish Green Growth Group, the Spanish Global Compact Network and ECODES, proposes a public-private cooperation framework promoting the participation and alignment of entities' climate strategies with governmental actions to foster compliance of the Paris Agreement. The Spanish Climate Action Platform connects with the #PorElClima Community (https://porelclima.es/), an initiative that seeks to articulate all social actors mobilised against climate change by sharing and implementing best practices in the fields of mitigation and adaptation to accelerate private sector action, among other activities.

In the same way, Forética is an association of companies and professionals in corporate social responsibility / sustainability, whose mission is to promote the integration of social, environmental and good governance aspects in the strategy and management of companies and organisations. It has more than 200 members. One of the projects developed by Foretica has been the "Cities Climate Change Adaptation Toolbox", a collection of products and services that enable cities to adapt to climate change, including business solutions for cities.

In addition, the Climate Change Cluster, one of the business platforms in Spain, is made up of 62 large Spanish companies and led by Forética. The Cluster has produced the publication: "The Risks, Opportunities and Financial Impact of Climate Change: A Guide for Practitioners on the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)".

The planning and development derived from the National Adaptation Plan (PNACC) 2021-2030 has been designed using an iterative approach, to ensure flexible, robust processes that avoid maladaptation and allow for the regular integration of the best available science and knowledge. In this framework, monitoring and evaluation processes acquire a strategic value in guiding adaptation initiatives, as they are essential to:

a) Recognise climate change trends, impacts and associated risks.

b) Recognise progress in the development of the PNACC and its work programmes and the remaining challenges.

c) Systematise and apply the knowledge acquired through the assessment of the results of the initiatives developed.

The PNACC 2021-2030 foresees a system for adaptation information, monitoring, reporting and evaluation (MRE) of impacts, vulnerabilities, risks, and increasing adaptive capacity that builds on the progress made in the previous PNACC and includes the following tools:

- Reports on climate risks and adaptation: this obligation is now mandated by the Law 7/2021 on Climate Change and Ecological Transition, which states that the Ministry for the Ecological Transition shall produce reports on the evolution of climate change impacts and risks and on the policies and measures aimed at building resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change in Spain. They will be prepared and published at least every 5 years.

The first precedent was a report that summarized and integrated impacts, vulnerability and adaptation (IVA) studies, "A Preliminary Assessment of the Impacts in Spain due to the Effects of Climate Change”, published in 2005. In 2021, a report about “Impacts and Risks associated to Climate Change in Spain” was published. This report described the main impacts of climate change on the different productive sectors and natural systems in Spain, elaborated on the interrelationship of risks between different areas, included a list compiling the main risks derived from these impacts, and a proposed assessment of the degree of urgency to address them. Published documentation was analysed in a total of 10 thematic areas considered priority subjects in the PNACC .

At the moment, the process of a new impacts and risk assessment process has been initiated as per mandate of the Law 7/2021. Three workshops with different stakeholders have been held in 2023 to feed into the definition of the assessment`s scope and methodology. This assessment will be finished in 2025 and results will inform the next working programme under the PNACC.

Also, multiple sectoral assessments of IVA have been developed since the first PNACC (2006). These assessments, allow to monitor the main impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity in the many PNACC sectors. Recent examples of sectoral reports produced, include cross-border climate change effects, impacts & risks on the hunting sector and on the employment.

- Climate change and adaptation indicators: Annex 3 of the PNACC 2021-2030 (https://www.miteco.gob.es/[…]/pnacc-2021-2030-en_tcm30-530300.pdf) includes an interim set of indicators that will provide a dynamic overview of climate change impacts and progress in adaptation where appropriate, facilitating the continuous improvement of policies and measures based on the analysis of progress achieved and the identification of remaining challenges. This initial list will be reviewed in 2023 to complete and, if necessary, adjust the initial collection. From 2023 onwards, and on a biennial basis, the data series relating to the defined set of indicators will be updated and made public. In a complementary way, sectoral indicators have been developed (e.g. health and climate change).

- The Platform on Adaptation to Climate Change in Spain, AdapteCCa (https://www.adaptecca.es/): it has become a valuable instrument for accessing information on IVA in Spain.

- Throughout the development of the PNACC, specific actions will also be carried out to evaluate the implementation of specific measures, promoting ex post case studies to analyze and evaluate the quality of responses to specific risks, especially in the case of extreme weather or climate events.

- The PNACC progress reports:

 Reports on the implementation of the first PNACC have been published by the OECC in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2021. The Fifth progress report (https://www.miteco.gob.es/[…]/5informeseguimientopnacc_tcm30-532096.pdf) collects information about the implementation progress of the Third PNACC Work Programme (WP), including actions carried out, results achieved, and an overall assessment of the WP in a qualitative manner.

Within the framework of the PNACC 2021-2030 two monitoring reports will be produced, in 2024 and 2029. The PNACC 2021-2030 also identifies implementation indicators for all the action lines that facilitate the monitoring of the progress in the implementation of adaptation actions.

- Evaluation of the PNACC:

In order to recognise the progress made, challenges remaining and lessons learned in the development of the PNACC, the OECC developed an evaluation of the plan since it was launched in 2006 (https://www.miteco.gob.es/[…]/informeevaluacion_pnacc_tcm30-499212.pdf). Although the evaluation was oriented towards assessing progress in the implementation of the PNACC, the process also partially assessed the increasing adaptive capacity in Spain. The evaluation process began in February 2018, with the constitution of an advisory group, made up of experts from different fields: European institutions, the General State Administration, autonomous communities, the academic sector and the non-governmental sector. This advisory group has contributed to guide the evaluation process. The main sources used in the evaluation exercise were:

a) The analysis of a wide range of documents, including international commitments and recommendations, as well as the conclusions of working groups and seminars.

b) The opinions, assessments and suggestions of people working in the field of adaptation in Spain, gathered through a survey, completed by more than 300 people, and a series of in-depth interviews with key actors in the field of adaptation in Spain.

c) The analysis of the fulfillment of the actions foreseen in the Plan and its successive work programmes. This work has led to the review of the approximately 400 actions proposed in the PNACC and the three successive work programmes through which the plan has been developed.

All this information served as the basis for the elaboration of the PNACC 2021-2030, which in turn foresees an in-depth evaluation in 2029 that will include an analysis of the plan's relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and added value.

The state of play of the implementation of actions and measures planned under the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC, Spanish NAS) and its Work Programmes (Spanish NAPs) was assessed in depth and reported in the “Evaluation Report of the Spanish National Climate Change Adaptation Plan”, published in 2019: https://www.miteco.gob.es/e[…]acionpnacc_tcm30-499189.pdf

This evaluation analyses the implementation of the actions planned in the first PNACC and its Work Programmes. In July 2019, more than 81% of the actions included in the PNACC and its Work Programmes had been implemented or were in progress.

Afterwards, the fifth monitoring report of the first PNACC, which covers the period 2018-2020, concludes that this three-year period had been characterised by:
- The development of impact and risk assessments in sectors that had not yet been addressed, such as the insurance sector or land transport infrastructures.
- The further integration of adaptation into sectoral regulations, with advances in fields such as civil protection, hydrological planning and energy planning.
- A strong boost in actions in the field of stakeholder engagement, which corresponds with the full development of the LIFE SHARA project. This increase both access to information (improvements in the AdapteCCa platform and the new climate change scenario viewer), dissemination (with a focus on the visibility of exemplary cases of adaptation) and the training of key actors (with training actions for university teachers, municipal technicians and ministry technicians).
- A new impulse to the elaboration of manuals and guides to facilitate sectoral action in adaptation, under the initiative of social organisations and academia and the financial support of PIMA ADAPTA.

Following the approval of the PNACC 2021-2030 and its first work programme, a first monitoring report is planned, which will gather all the information on the actions and measures developed in the framework of the first work programme for the period 2021-2025. This report will identify challenges and future perspectives that will serve as a basis for the elaboration of the second work programme. To date, the monitoring of the first work programme shows that more than a hundred measures are completed, at an advanced stage of implementation or with partial outcomes.

FUNDING

The distribution of funding to increase climate resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change has evolved, from a significant concentration in the main unit responsible (Spanish Climate Change Office) to a more uniform distribution in budget lines that correspond to different units of the General State Administration dealing with key sectors (e.g. Water, Coast, Biodiversity, Forest, Desertification, Health, Agriculture, etc.); in addition, since 2013, resources from the auctioning of emission rights have been allocated to policies to fight climate change, resulting in a substantial increase in climate funding in general and climate change adaptation in particular.

The PIMA Adapta Plans are a good example of this new support mechanisms. These plans administers economic resources from the auctioning of emission rights and develops actions in different lines of work in the areas of water, coasts, ecosystems and biodiversity and National Parks.

At regional level, the Autonomous Communities have fully competences in planning and management the adaptation of many vulnerable sectors to climate change.

Regarding funding disaster climate-related risk reduction, there are also a main responsible at central level (Civil Protection General Directorate) together with regional units that, all together, conform the National System for Civil Protection.

As a result, the information available on the disbursement of funding in Spain for climate change adaptation and disaster climate-related risks reduction is dispersed and there is a lack of a comprehensive economic analysis at national level. To solve this issue, the study "Spending review on climate change adaptation and risk reduction policies and assessment of the economic impact of climate change-related risks in Spain" is being carried out under the Technical Support Instrument program of the EU (TSI, formerly known as Structural Reform Support Service). Preliminary results will be available by Q2 2023, providing outcomes to improve the capacity to assess the economic impact of climate change on spending policies and to monitor and forecast the budgetary and financial resources needed to manage climate change adaptation and risk reduction in an accurate way.

The PNACC envisages the use of some instruments that will make it possible to reinforce the financing of adaptation and promote the leveraging of additional funds, both public and private.

At the EU level, two main instruments can be distinguished as funding sources for the PNACC Work Programme 2021-2025:
-Next Generation Funds: exceptional funds for the period 2021-2023 for recovery measures to address the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) identifies multiple reforms and investments, some directly associated with adaptation and strengthening climate resilience in Spain.
-Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027: regular funds for the next EU planning cycle.
-In addition, other measures will be financed from other instruments, such as the LIFE financial instrument.

At the national level, part of the measures will be fully or partially financed through the budgets of the different administrative units responsible for their development. Within this framework, two funding instruments are highlighted:
-PIMA Funds: This instrument, which draws on revenues from the auctioning of emission rights, will finance a diverse range of measures in the 2021-2025 Work Programme, through two main modalities: PIMA Adapta funds, managed by various units of the general state administration in the areas of water, coasts, ecosystems and biodiversity and National Parks; and territorialised PIMA funds, managed through the autonomous communities.
-Carbon Fund for a Sustainable Economy: The FES-CO2 is dedicated, among other objectives, to the development of actions to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Currently, the implementation of the Work Programme is work in progress, and the spending information on the implementation of the measures will not be available until its completion. The estimated budget of the first Work Programme amounts to more than €1.5 billion, with the unprecedented financial contribution of the PRTR.

So far, no comprehensive monitoring or evaluation of the consequences of adaptation actions in terms of impacts, vulnerability and risk reduction has been carried out, although partial analyses have been developed in areas such as health or wildfires.

Within the framework of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC 2021-2030), the following elements will facilitate more effective monitoring of progress in reducing impacts, vulnerability and risks:

- A set of indicators (Annex III of the PNACC) will provide an overview of progress in the period 2021-2030 with a historical perspective where data series are available. This will allow quantitative identification of progress in terms of impact, vulnerability and risk reduction.

- Reports on climate risks and adaptation, which are synthesis reports on the evolution of the main risks and impacts derived from climate change and on the policies and measures aimed at increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change in Spain.

In addition, monitoring reports are produced in a regular basis, showing in a qualitative way the actions carried out and the benefits observed. The most recent report was published in 2021: https://www.miteco.gob.es/[…]/default.aspx

The analysis of progress in Spain's adaptive capacity is highly complex, as the range of aspects that affect adaptive capacity is broad, including factors such as learning capacity, governance mechanisms or resources available for adaptation. To date, there has been no comprehensive assessment of progress in adaptive capacity, although some progress in this area is recognisable:

a) Social studies on perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge on climate change issues confirm that most of the Spanish population believes that climate change is real, is the result of human activity and is dangerous. Awareness of the risks arising from climate change is also high. Practical knowledge of self-protection against climate change hazards is progressively increasing (La sociedad española ante el cambio climático. Percepción y comportamientos en la población (2021): https://accesoesee.idearain[…]_espa%C3%B1ola_CC_2020.pdf, Los españoles ante el cambio climático (2019): https://adaptecca.es/sites/[…]io-climatico-sept-2019.pdf, La respuesta de la sociedad española ante el cambio climático (2013): https://adaptecca.es/sites/[…]o_2013_fundacionmapfre.pdf, Riesgos climáticos desde la perspectiva de género (2021): https://www.inmujeres.gob.es/[…]/RiesgosClimaticosPerspectivaGenero.pdf)

b) Improvements in adaptation governance: The adoption of the Law 7/2021, of 20 May, on Climate Change and Energy Transition, has reinforced the governance on adaptation. The Spanish PNACC 2021-2030 and the Work Programme 2021-2025 are the new planning and programming instruments to foster public governance of adaptation.

c) Improvements on resources for adaptation: financial instruments and resources for adaptation have also been reinforced (Recovery and Resilience Facility, PIMA Adapta plan and others).

A practical example of aggregate effects resulting from adaptive capacity can be found in the evolution of high temperature-induced mortality. Since 2004, the implementation of the National Plan of Preventive Actions on the Effects of Excess Temperatures on Health has improved adaptation to heat. Recent studies indicate that the level of adaptation to high temperatures in Spain over the last 35 years (1983-2018) can be considered adequate for a large part of the territory. However, there are territorial differences that require further ambition in the implementation of adaptation measures (Follos, 2021).

The PNACC work programme for the period 2021-2025 identifies 257 measures for the development of the action lines of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC).

Given the large number of measures defined, priority measures have been identified with the aim of giving them a preferential attention.

The following prioritization criteria have been used to identify these measures:
- Key effect: given the interdependence of the measures, priority is given to those that are considered key, i.e., those whose implementation provides some element required for the development of others.
- Urgency: Priority is given to measures that contribute to managing a current or imminent risk. A risk is considered imminent when it is already materializing into tangible impacts or there is a high probability that it will materialize into impacts within the lifetime of the work programme.
- Severity: priority is given to those measures whose non-implementation would be likely to lead to consequences that would be difficult to assume due to the severity of the impacts that could occur.
- Opportunity: It refers to the existence of factors that will facilitate the implementation of the measure. For example, the key actors for the development of the measure have a strong motivation to carry it out; there is a specific funding source available to develop the measure, etc.
- Commitment or enforceability: There is a legal obligation, regulatory mandate or institutional commitment in place to which the measure responds.
- Cost-effectiveness: The benefits derived from the development of the measure are very significant in relation to the resources required for its implementation.

After the application of the prioritization criteria, the work programme defines a total of 75 priority measures for implementation in the period 2021-2025.

The main barriers to adaptation identified are those related to governance and financing issues.
 

The systematic analysis of investments in adaptation will be addressed, as mentioned above, through the project "Spending review on climate change adaptation and risk reduction policies and assessment of the economic impact of climate change-related risks in Spain". This project, funded by the European Commission's Tecnical Suport Instrument (TSI), aims, among other objectives, to obtain the most complete analysis possible of public spending (at central and regional level) on climate change adaptation and climate-related disaster risk reduction.

There are a number of strategic components of the PNACC, which have already had some development in the previous phase, but are given new impetus by the new plan and will help to overcome barriers to adaptation. These are:

- Knowledge generation: new impacts, risks and vulnerability assessments have been carried out in other to fill gaps. Analyses will be carried out to detect further knowledge gaps that need to be addressed.
- The incorporation of adaptation into sectoral regulations, plans, programmes and policies: in 2021-2022, 20 new sectoral estrategies, plans and programmes have integrated climate change risks and adaptation.
- Mobilisation of actors: dissemination, training and participation activities are gradually closing the gap related to stakeholders involvement in adaptation.
- Monitoring and evaluation: the planning and development derived from the PNACC-2 will have an iterative approach, in order to ensure flexible, robust processes that avoid maladaptation, allowing for the periodic integration of the best available science.

In 2005, the report "A Preliminary Assessment of the Impacts in Spain due to the Effects of Climate Change” was published. It summarized and integrated impacts, vulnerability and adaptation studies. Since then, multiple sectoral assessments of impacts, vulnerability and adaptation associated to climate change in Spain have been developed within the framework of the first National Adaptation Plan (PNACC).

In 2021, a new report about “Impacts and Risks associated to Climate Change in Spain” (https://www.miteco.gob.es/e[…]nawebfinal_tcm30-518210.pdf) was published. The study describes the main impacts of climate change on the different productive sectors and natural systems in Spain. A list is also compiled of the main risks derived from these impacts, as well as a proposed assessment of the degree of urgency to address them. To this end, published documentation is analyzed in a total of 10 areas of work or sectors and natural systems considered priority subjects in the PNACC (water resources, terrestrial ecosystems, agriculture and livestock, marine environment, coasts, urban areas, health, energy, transport and tourism). It synthesizes information on climate change impacts for each area of work and elaborates on the interrelationship of risks between different areas.

By mandate of the new PNACC 2021-2030 and also the Law 7/2021 on climate change and ecological transition, reports on the evolution of the risks and impacts derived from climate change in Spain and on the policies and measures aimed at building resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, shall be produced at least every 5 years. These reports shall be prepared in collaboration with other ministerial departments and Autonomous Communities. The first steps towards the new impacts and risk assessment have recently been taken. Three workshops with different stakeholders (social agents & civil society organizations, regional governments and scientists) have been held in order to gather information that will feed into the scope and methodology definition of this new impacts and risks assessment. This assessment will consist in the analysis and integration of the generated information related to the climate change impacts and risks, taking into consideration, wherever possible, the most recent developments in this area of work, such as cascade risks. This report will be finished in 2025 and will inform the preparation and development of the second working programme (2026-2030) under the PNACC.

Likewise, some sectoral assessments of impacts, vulnerability, risks and adaptation are being developed or updated as foreseen under the PNACC 2021-2030 and its Work Programmes.

In addition, a "Guide for the assessment of risks associated with climate change" was published in 2023 with the aim of contributing to clarifying the terminology associated with risk analysis and proposing general guidelines for its development and implementation, which will enable consistent results to be obtained among the different actors and organisations involved in the analysis of risks associated with climate change. This effort of harmonisation and synthesis in a common framework also aims to allow comparability between risk analyses in different geographical areas or even sectors in some cases. It also addresses key cross-cutting aspects in risk assessment, present in the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, such as territorial and social vulnerability, the gender approach, risk perception and social participation (https://adaptecca.es/sites/[…]2023_v13_interactivo_ok.pdf).

THE EVALUATION PROCESS

The PNACC 2021 - 2030 is the result of a collective process of analysis and reflection, a process that began with the in-depth evaluation of the first PNACC and its three work programmes.

In order to recognise the progress made, challenges remaining and lessons learned in the development of the PNACC, Spain has developed an evaluation of the plan since its creation in 2006. The process began in February 2018, with the formation of an advisory group made up of experts from different fields. This advisory group has contributed to the orientation of the evaluation process.

The evaluation exercise has drawn on several complementary sources, including:
-The analysis of a wide range of documents, including international commitments and recommendations.
-The opinions, assessments and suggestions of people working in the field of adaptation in Spain, collected through a survey completed by more than 300 people, and a series of in-depth interviews with key actors.
-Analysis of the fulfilment of the actions set out in the Plan and its successive work programmes. This task has led to the review of the approximately 400 actions proposed in the PNACC and the three successive work programmes through which the plan has been developed.

The evaluation identifies a number of "emerging issues" that need attention, such as the influence of social and demographic factors on vulnerability, the consideration of the transnational impacts, the integration of a human rights and gender perspective, and the role of lifestyles in building resilience.

The result was an evaluation report with 38 specific recommendations for the definition of the new PNACC.

THE PARTICIPATORY PROCESS

Prior to the initial writing of the PNACC, preliminary ideas and proposals were gathered from experts and key actors. Various consultation and deliberation formats were used for this purpose:
- Four deliberative workshops
-Expert contributions through an online form.
-Meetings with implementing agents

PUBLIC INFORMATION

The initial draft of the PNACC 2020-2030 was subject to a public information period from 4 May to 30 June 2020. More than 1,500 comments were received from 182 organisations and individuals, which enriched the initial proposal.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT

The first work programme (WP) of the PNACC 2021-2030, for the period 2021-2025, details the measures to be implemented in the first five years of the development of the PNACC.

The WP-1 is the result of the contribution of a wide range of departments of the general state administration (AGE), autonomous communities, local administrations and social actors. More than fifty bilateral meetings were held, in addition to a wide range of written exchanges with the different departments and units involved. The resulting draft was sent, in the first instance, to the different units of the National Government and the Autonomous Communities for a round of comments. In addition, on-line meetings were held to present WP-1, gather initial comments and resolve doubts. The draft Ministerial Order was then submitted to a public hearing. Subsequently, the draft was presented to the Climate Change Policy Coordination Committee and the National Climate Council.

Regarding the 2030 Agenda, Spain had its governance architecture reinforced, including a Ministry, a Secretariat of State for the 2030 Agenda and 3 main governance bodies:
- for interministerial coordination,
- for coordination across administrations,
- for the coordination and participation of entities from the civil society, private sector and academia.

Synergies between 2030 Agenda and Adaptation are ensured with the participation of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (thus the Spanish Climate Change Office, OECC) in this governance scheme.

The Spanish 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy identifies many synergies among the targets of SDG13 (climate action) regarding adaptation (e.g. strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters; integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning), all of them considered in the Spanish Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2021-2030.

Other SDGs targets contribute significantly to climate resilience and adaptation in Spain, such as resilient agricultural practices (SDG2).

In relation with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the National Civil Protection Council is the body for cooperation and coordination among all the Spanish Administrations with responsibility in disaster risk management and acts as the Spanish Committee for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), coordinating the implementation and follow up of the UNDRR framework in Spain. The synergies between the Spanish climate change adaptation framework (coordinated by the OECC) and the Sendai Framework for DRR are based and built on the participation of the OECC as a member of the Spanish Committee for UNDRR.

In response to UNCCD and UNCBD new agendas, Spain has recently approved a 2030 Strategic Plan for Natural Heritage & Biodiversity and a National Strategy to Combat Desertification. Both instruments take into consideration adaptation to climate change.

Bilaterally, Spain and Portugal established a cooperation relationship in the field of adaptation in the framework of the LIFE SHARA project (Sharing awareness and governance of adaptation to climate change) which took place between September 2016 and October 2021 with the aims to strengthen the governance of climate change adaptation and increase resilience in Spain and Portugal. In this way, a cooperation framework between Spain and Portugal has been set up, which continues beyond the end of the LIFE project, to promote the exchange of information on shared vulnerabilities and identify priorities for common actions between both countries.

Regarding international European and regional cooperation, Spain regularly contributes and participates in multiple exchange fora dealing with climate change adaptation such as G20, OECD, IPCC, EU and EEA working groups, GCA, Union for the Mediterranean.

Spain develops and intensive cooperation activity in the Ibero-American climate change adaptation context, where there are three well established networks supported by Spain that bring together responsible on water, weather and climate change sectors: (i) the Conference of Ibero-American Directors of Water (CODIA), (ii) the Conference of the Directors of Ibero-American National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (CIMHET) and (iii) the Ibero-American Network of Climate Change Offices (RIOCC). They constitute forums for discussion, exchange of information and experiences and development of sectorial activities, including adaptation to climate change activities. Spain acts as the permanent Secretariat and supports activities related to adaptation aligned with the countries priorities.

The Spanish Cooperation Plan for Knowledge Transfer, Exchange and Management in Latin-American and the Caribbean (INTERCOONECTA https://www.aecid.es/[…]/Planintercoonecta.pdf), carried out by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, supports several actions for the technical and institutional reinforcement, including related to adaptation to climate change. Many of these actions are identified by the sectoral Iberoamerican networks refer above (RIOCC, CIMHET and CODIA).

As it will be referred in Part 2 of Annex VIII of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, Spain supports adaptation climate change projects in many developing countries through different instruments, both bilateral and multilateral.

One interesting and innovative project supported in the last years to enhance adaptation action at the sub-national, national, macro-regional and international level is the RIOCCADAPT project (http://rioccadapt.com/), “Adaptation to climate change risks in Ibero-American countries”, funded by the ARAUCLIMA Program of the Spanish Development Cooperation. This project intends to facilitate action regarding adaptation to climate change, through the evaluation of current knowledge about ongoing experiences in this field in the Ibero-America region. The work is the result of the collaboration of more than a hundred authors from Ibero-American countries.

Spain also is a key partner in EUROCLIMA+ (http://euroclimaplus.org/en/), the EU flagship cooperation programme on environmental sustainability and climate change with the Latin American region. EUROCLIMA+ carries out actions that are of strategic importance for the implementation of the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with the objective to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in Latin America. The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) and the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) are implementation agencies of EUROCLIMA+.

The governance scheme in Spain for climate change adaptation includes several horizontal and vertical coordination bodies. The Autonomous Communities in Spain have endowed themselves with regional horizontal governance structures that have taken different forms depending on their specificities and main objective. In general, the regional governments have been developed:

- Advisory and coordination bodies for the different administrations with competencies in environment and climate change.
- Consultative participation bodies that bring together different social, economic, environmental, and scientific institutions, organizations, experts and stakeholders.

On the Spanish Adaptation platform AdapteCCa, detailed information on the structures created for governance in each Autonomous Community can be accessed: https://www.adaptecca.es/contenido/comunidades-autonomas

Regarding vertical coordination, there are many governance bodies and networks that bring together institutions and stakeholders from central, regional and local levels that are taking coordinated decisions and developing climate change adaptation actions. The following list summaries these coordination bodies, that have different scopes, from a general climate change focus to specific and thematic aspects of climate change adaptation:

- The National Climate Council
- The Environmental Sector Conference
- The Coordination Commission of Climate Change Policies
- The Working Group on Impacts and Adaptation
- The Spanish Network of Cities for Climate
- The Technical Working Group for National and Regional Coastal Adaptation
- The Technical Working Group for Climate Resilience Projects in Cities

- The Spanish Network of Cities for Climate was created in 2009 by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition for joint action on climate. The network includes now 364 Spanish local entities (over 60% of the Spanish population).
- The Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory is a crossborder cooperation initiative, bringing together regions from Spain, France & Andorra.
- At regional level there are also examples of networks and collaborations between regional and local authorities, such as the Basque Network of Municipalities towards Sustainability.
- Recently, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, a network of exchange and collaboration of cities around sustainable urban recovery was created. The European Mission “Climate-Neutral Cities” has led to the creation of the citiES 2030 Platform, promoted by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, which will support the 7 selected Spanish cities to the path of climate neutrality.

INITIATIVES OF THE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES

The autonomous communities, in the exercise of their competences, have developed their own strategic frameworks, plans and programmes for adaptation to climate change, which they develop through numerous initiatives and actions.

The AdapteCCa platform (www.adaptecca.es) brings together summary information on this and provides access to and detailed knowledge of the frameworks and actions being developed in Spain at the regional level. Some autonomous communities have reinforced the legal framework by approving their own climate change laws.

Below is a summary by autonomous community of the most important regional instruments for adaptation to climate change:

Andalucía

Ley 8/2018, de 8 de octubre, de medidas frente al cambio climático y para la transición hacia un nuevo modelo energético en Andalucía

Plan Andaluz de Acción por el Clima (Decreto 234/2021)

Aragón

Estrategia Aragonesa de Cambio Climático horizonte 2030 (EACC 2030) (2019)

Declaración Institucional del Gobierno de Aragón en materia de Cambio Climático y Desarrollo Sostenible (2019)

Asturias

Estrategia de Acción por el Clima de Asturias (in progress)

Plan de adaptación al cambio climático del DPMT adscrito al Principado de Asturias (in progress)

Illes Balears

Ley 10/2019, de 22 de febrero, de cambio climático y transición energética

Estrategia Balear de Lucha Contra el Cambio Climático 2013-2020 (2013)

Declaración de emergencia climática en las Illes Balears (2019)

Plan de Transición Energética y Cambio Climático (in progress)

Canarias

Ley 6/2022, de 27 de diciembre, de cambio climático y transición energética de Canarias

Estrategia Canaria de Lucha contra el Cambio Climático (2022, in progress)

Estrategia Canaria de Lucha contra el Cambio Climático (2009)

Plan Canario de Acción Climática y Planes Insulares y Municipales de Acción para el Clima y la Energía (in progress)

Cantabria

Estrategia de Acción frente al Cambio Climático en Cantabria 2018-2030 (2018)

Castilla y León

Acuerdo 26/2020, de 4 de junio, por el que se aprueban Medidas contra el cambio climático en el ámbito de la Comunidad de Castilla y León

Estrategia Regional de Cambio Climático 2009-2012-2020 (2009)

Castilla La Mancha

Estrategia de Cambio Climático de Castilla-La Mancha. Horizontes 2020 y 2030 (2019)

Declaración de Emergencia Climática de Castilla-La Mancha (2019)

Catalunya

Ley 16/2017, de 1 de agosto, del cambio climático

Decreto-ley 16/2019, de 26 de noviembre, de medidas urgentes para la emergencia climática y el impulso a las energías renovables

Estrategia Catalana de Adaptación al Cambio Climático 2021-2030 ESCACC30 (2023)

Estrategia Catalana de Adaptación al Cambio Climático 2013-2020 ESCACC20 (2012)

Extremadura

Estrategia de Cambio Climático de Extremadura 2013-2020 (2014)

Estrategia de Cambio Climático de Extremadura 2009-2012 (2009)

Plan Extremeño Integrado de Energía y Clima (PEIEC 2021-2030) (2021)

Galicia

Estrategia gallega de cambio climático y energía 2050 (2019)

Plan regional integrado de energía y clima 2019-2023 (2019)

Ley del clima de Galicia (in progress)

Comunidad de Madrid

Revisión de la Estrategia de Calidad del Aire y Cambio Climático de la Comunidad de Madrid. Plan Azul + (2013-2020) (2019)

Murcia

Estrategia de Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático de la Región de Murcia (2020)

Declaración de emergencia climática y ambiental (2020)

Navarra

Ley Foral 4/2022, de 22 de marzo, de Cambio Climático y Transición Energética

Hoja de ruta de Cambio Climático 2020-2030-2050 (2018)

País Vasco

Anteproyecto de Ley de Transición Energética y Cambio Climático (2021) (in progress)

Plan de Transición Energética y Cambio Climático 2021-2024 (2021)

Declaración institucional de emergencia climática (2019)

Estrategia Vasca de Cambio Climático, Klima 2050 (2015)

La Rioja

Anteproyecto de Ley de Cambio Climático de La Rioja (in progress)

Declaración de emergencia climática del Parlamento de La Rioja (in progress)

Comunitat Valenciana

Ley 6/2022, de 5 de diciembre, del Cambio Climático y la Transición Ecológica de la Comunitat Valenciana

Estrategia Valenciana de Cambio Climático y Energía. Horizonte 2030

Plan Valenciano Integrado de Energía y Cambio Climático (in progress)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Most large Spanish cities have approved their own climate change strategies or plans, which in many cases include adaptation objectives and lines of work. Some have conducted their own local-scale vulnerability and impact analyses or have specific adaptation plans, although the latter are still in the minority.

Further information can be found in the Sixth report on local climate change policies (2019): https://adaptecca.es/[…]/vi_informe_politicas_locales_de_cc_2019.pdf

Some of the good practices adopted from the sub-national level to engage with stakeholders particularly vulnerable to climate change are shown below:
- Barcelona: Through the report "Intersectional climate justice and public policies in Barcelona", a mapping of public policies in Barcelona has been carried out with a focus on climate justice and intersectionality. The analysis of public policies with this new approach makes it possible to take into account the impact of inequalities on the effectiveness of actions and policy proposals.
https://adaptecca.es/[…]/justicia-climatica-es-vf.pdf
- Basque Country: Euskadi has published in 2023 the report "Climate change in Euskadi from a gender perspective" which addresses the causes and effects, as well as awareness, leadership and citizen participation in the field of climate change from a gender perspective. From an innovative approach, working in co-creation with different experts in equality and climate change, a diagnosis has been drawn up in the context of the Basque Country, from which four specific challenges and twenty actions have been defined that will enable the integration of cross-cutting equality and climate change policies.
https://adaptecca.es/[…]/cc_y_geinero_cast_2.pdf
- Madrid: The project " Cuidados en Entornos Escolares " identifies public schools as particularly sensitive to climate change for the educational community and childhood. This project proposes the intervention in school playgrounds and their surroundings with measures to adapt to climate change through management solutions, naturalisation and urban regeneration, in order to transform them into more habitable spaces on a larger scale. Its development is based on a participatory, inclusive methodology involving the entire educational and neighbourhood community, which proposes measures and needs for improving school playgrounds and school accesses.
https://adaptecca.es/proyec[…]-y-sus-entornos-en-espacios
- Aragón: Children are also identified as particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the "Patios x el clima" project has been developed, focusing on environmental awareness to promote the renaturalisation of educational spaces and their pedagogical function to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in school environments.
https://www.aragoncambioclimatico.es/patios-x-el-clima/

Further information can be found on the AdapteCCA platform, which brings together summary information on climate change adaptation policies developed at the regional level: https://adaptecca.es/en/autonomous-communities

Some of the good practices taken by the Autonomous Communities to engage with the private sector are carried out through participatory bodies for the design and monitoring of climate change policies. Some examples are shown below:
- Andalucía: Consejo Andaluz del Clima
- Aragón: Consejo Aragonés del Clima
- Asturias: Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad en el Principado de Asturias
- Baleares: Consejo Balear del Clima
- Castilla La Mancha: Consejo Asesor de Medio Ambiente
- Catalunya: Mesa Social del Cambio Climático
- Extremadura: Consejo Asesor de Medio Ambiente
- La Rioja: Consejo Asesor de Medio Ambiente
- Comunitat Valenciana: Consejo Asesor y de Participación del Medio Ambiente (CAPMA), Mesa forestal

In addition, another example of initiative for involving the private sector in risk assessment and adaptive action can be found below:
- País Vasco: The Basque Government in collaboration with the Basque Business Confederation (CONFEBASK), with the aim of supporting the Basque business network in improving its resilience and reducing the effects of climate change on its activities, has developed tools and methodologies that enable companies to establish climate change adaptation strategies in line with the IPCC guidelines for climate risk analysis.
https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/documentacion/12practicas/es_def/adjuntos/28buenaspracticas.pdf

Further information can be found on the AdapteCCA platform, which brings together summary information on climate change adaptation policies developed at the regional level: https://adaptecca.es/en/autonomous-communities

The Autonomous Communities, in the exercise of their competences, have developed their own strategic frameworks, plans and programmes for adaptation to climate change, which they develop through numerous initiatives and actions.

Many of these planning instruments have systems for monitoring and evaluating the measures to be implemented, through the preparation of monitoring reports that provide information on the level of development of the measures adopted. Likewise, some regions also have systems of indicators for the evaluation of the development and fulfilment of the defined goals. Some examples are shown below:
- Andalucía: The Andalusian Climate Action Plan has a monitoring and evaluation system that includes the preparation of an annual report on the level of development and compliance with the Plan and its programmes, as well as the implementation of a system of indicators.
- Aragon: The Aragon Climate Change Strategy includes a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan that has technical sheets with indicators associated with the 152 actions defined in the Strategy. Each of the sheets establishes calculation parameters and their graphic representation. The information can be consulted at the following link: https://www.estrategiaaragonesacambioclimatico.es/[…]/
- Catalunya: The Monitoring and Evaluation of the Catalan Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change 2013-2020 (ESCACC) applied a qualitative methodology to determine the level of adaptation of natural systems and socio-economic sectors according to the degree of implementation of the measures contained in the ESCACC: https://canviclimatic.gencat.cat/web/.content/03_AMBITS/adaptacio/ESCACC/docs/Resum-executiu_cast_rev_ling.pdf

In addition, the document Global Indicator of Adaptation to the impacts of climate change in Catalonia (IGA 2018) proposes a methodology whose objective is to quantify the degree of adaptation based on more than forty sectoral indicators: https://canviclimatic.gencat.cat/web/.content/03_AMBITS/adaptacio/Indicador_global/IGA-2018_cast.pdf
- Extremadura: Monitoring reports are drawn up, in which a series of indicators are used to quantify the degree of achievement of the objectives set out in the planning as well as to quantify the implementation of the measures.
- Navarra: In the framework of the LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC project (2017 - 2025), a system of indicators has been created to monitor the effects of climate change in Navarra. Through a project monitoring web portal (https://monitoring.lifenadapta.eu/ ), more than 100 indicators of adaptation to climate change are collected, structured around 15 impact chains that associate threats with specific receptors. The information is displayed in the form of maps, graphs and dashboards, and can be easily downloaded or consumed as a web service by the user.

On the other hand, a monitoring portal has been created for the Climate Change Roadmap in Navarre (KLINa) (https://klina.navarra.es/), which includes both adaptation and mitigation indicators.
- País Vasco: The Basque Climate Change Strategy establishes monitoring every two years, as well as every 10 years. An evaluation of the first cycle of the Klima 2050 Strategy has been carried out using a set of indicators.
- Valencia: The Climate Change and Energy Strategy defines specific indicators and monitoring variables associated with each sector in which measures have been established.

More information can be found on the AdapteCCA platform, which brings together summary information on the climate change adaptation policies developed at the regional level: https://adaptecca.es/en/autonomous-communities

Some of the good practices taken by the Autonomous Communities to review and update subnational adaptation plans, policies, strategies, and measures, are shown below:
-The Autonomous Community of Valencia has set up the “Climate Change Policy Coordination Committee”. It is a technical collegiate body, made up of representatives from different bodies of the Administration, which is responsible for monitoring climate change policies.
- The Autonomous Community of Cataluña has just approved the new Catalan Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation 2021-2030 (the previous one covered the time period 2013-2020). The Catalonia Climate Change Office decided to carry out a participatory process to take into account the opinion of citizens when developing the new strategy.
-The Autonomous Community of Madrid has set up the “Scientific and Technical Committee”, formed by experts from different public and private research and science entities, both nationally and internationally. This committee has provided technical advice to review the Blue Plan + (Air Quality and Climate Change Strategy of the Community of Madrid 2013-2020).
-The Autonomous Community of Navarra is developing the LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC project with the aim of setting up the integrated strategy for the adaptation to Climate Change. A public web platform to facilitate the understanding of how adaptation to Climate Change is being tackled in Navarra will be developed within this project.
-In the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the Basque Climate Change Strategy (Klima 2050) establishes a biennial monitoring system, as well as a review of the strategy every 10 years.
- In the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy of the Región de Murcia, the Climate Change department of the Government was entrusted with the periodic evaluation of the degree of implementation and compliance with the established objectives.

The Autonomous Communities support some international and cross-border cooperation initiatives to enhance the adaptation at sub-national level. The main initiatives are described below:

- The Autonomous Community of Andalucía is a partner of the AA-FLOODS project (http://aafloods.eu/project/) funded by the EU through the European Regional Development Fund. The Overall Objective is to reduce human and material damages due to flooding by improving the tools of Prevention, Alert and Crisis Management at the local scale. Directive 2007/60 / EC promoted Flood Prevention at regional level. Furthermore, this Community has collaborated with EIT Climate-KIC in the CRISI-Adapt II Project, whose main objective was to obtain climate-related risk information to improve planning and operation in climate change adaptation of the regions.
- The Autonomous Community of Valencia is a key partner of the GrowGreen project. It aims to create climate and water resilient, healthy and livable cities by investing in nature-based solutions (NBS) (https://growgreenproject.eu/).
- The Interreg VA Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) Programme promotes cross-border cooperation projects with the support of the European Union. The Autonomous Community of Extremadura is a key partner of one the funded projects: “Cross-border cooperation project for early warning”.
- MyCOAST is the Coordinated Atlantic Coastal Operational Oceanographic Observatory project, funded by the EU INTERREG Atlantic Area transnational cooperation programme (www.atlanticarea.eu). The Autonomous Community of Galicia is a key partner of this project.
- The Autonomous Community of Navarra and the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country are key partners of the REGIONS 4 initiative. This initiative aims to represent regional governments (states, regions and provinces) through UN negotiations, European Union initiatives (inter alia) in the fields of climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development.
- The Autonomous Community of the Basque Country is a partner of the Pyrenean Observatory of Climate Change that is a cross-border initiative of regional collaboration on climate change issues.
- The Autonomous Community of Aragón and the Autonomous Community of Cataluña are partners of the Pyrenean Climate Change Strategy: a strategy for cooperation on climate action.

• AdapteCCa information on climate change adaptation policies developed at regional level in Spain