Adaptation to climate change of the coast of Galicia and north of Portugal (MarRISK)

MarRisk aims to ensure intelligent and sustainable growth of the coastal areas of Galicia and Northern Portugal by assessing the most important coastal risks in a climate change scenario. Floods, intensification of extreme events, episodes of toxic algae or coastal erosion are examples of risks to be analyzed in order to improve the resilience of traditional economic sectors and other emerging sectors such as marine renewable energies. In this way, the adaptation of the Cooperation Area to possible catastrophes will be improved and applications and services will be developed to guarantee a coordinated response, since environmental risks require a cross-border approach.

Activities include:

• Consolidation of a knowledge infrastructure for the assessment of coastal risks in the context of climate change
• Application of tools to improve coastal management in a climate change scenario
• Improving the resilience of coastal regions through the development of climate services
• Stakeholder involvement in achieving coastal communities that are more resilient to climate change.

Results include the development of climate services that help anticipate the risks associated with climate change, improving resilience of the strategic economic sectors of the coastline of the Cooperation Area (tourism, maritime traffic and port sector, fishing and shellfish sector, including offshore aquaculture or marine renewable energies). MarRisk evaluates the evolution of the coastal climate, improves the resolution of the currently existing analyses, enables monitoring and surveillance systems of this evolution and makes available support tools to decision-making that improve coastal management.