From 15–17 June a workshop entitled „Coastal adaptation to climate change: how to work with nature“ was held in Marseille, France. The workshop was organized by the French Coastal Agency „Conservatoire du littoral“, and hosted by the city of Marseille. The workshop was attended by more than 60 participants from 16 countries worldwide, from Algeria to the UK and USA. Representatives of different international organizations, national coastal agencies and authorities, NGOs, private foundations and companies presented many initiatives and practical cases. In addition to the representatives of the French ministry of ecological transition, international organizations were represented by UNEP/MAP Centres (PAP/RAC, Plan Bleu and MEDECC) and the European Union bodies (DG Climate Action and JRC) and the Ocean Climate Platform.
PAP/RAC introduced Mediterranean challenges for adaptation and presented its methodology for Coastal plans applied within the new GEF’s MedProgramme. Several cases were presented by the coastal agencies (Conservatoire du littoral, UK National Trust and Danish Coastal Authority) and numerous NGOs, while representatives of the Catalan government presented their initiative to establish a coastal conservatory. The insurance company AXA presented the insurance role, while Ocean Mercator International and I SEA presented the successful cases of use of satellite data for the adaptation of coastal areas. This interesting workshop, accompanied by vivid discussions and valid exchanges was concluded with the policy paper.
