Guidelines for adapting to Climate Variability and Change along the Mediterranean coast

The Guideline document was prepared by the Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC) of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP/UNEP) in the frame of the project “Integration of Climate Variability and Change into National Strategies to implement the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean” (the ClimVar & ICZM project).

The aim of the document is to provide planners and policy-makers in the Mediterranean with:

• A guide to the impact of climate variability and change (CV&C) on coastal zones in the region;
• Information on how such impacts can be integrated into the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) process;
• Lesson learned from the experience of handling CV&C in specific locations in the region and elsewhere.

The  guidelines provide a more detailed understanding of different key CV&C aspects in the Mediterranean coastal zones and aid in interpreting the CV&C dimension with regard to the format, content and provisions of the ICZM process. These guidelines also provide a critical review of CV&C adaptation efforts and mitigation measures, paving the way toward the rational application of ICZM Protocol requirements for the CV&C dimension.