Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seals and makes clear that the impacts of Climate Change in our region are no longer hypothetical but real and significant.
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published on 28 February 2022 "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, Working Group II Contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report" includes a separate chapter "CROSS-CHAPTER PAPER 4" on impacts in the Mediterranean region.
We cite below some parts of the executive summary of this chapter.
“A growing number of observed impacts across the entire basin are now being attributed to climate change, along with major roles of other forcings of environmental change (high confidence). These impacts include multiple consequences of longer and/or more intensive heat waves, droughts, floods, ocean acidification and sea level rise, such as cascading impacts on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as on land and sea use (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, recreation, etc.) and human health.
During the 21st century, climate change is projected to intensify throughout the region. Air and sea temperature and their extremes (notably heat waves) are likely2 to continue to increase more than the global average (high confidence). Precipitation will likely decrease in most areas by 4–22%, depending on the emission scenario (medium confidence). Rainfall extremes will likely increase in the northern part of the region (high confidence). Droughts will become more prevalent in many areas (high confidence). Mediterranean Sea level is projected to rise further during the coming decades and centuries (high confidence). Coastal flood risks will increase in low-lying areas along 37% of the Mediterranean coastline that currently hosts 42 million people.
Due to its particular combination of multiple strong climate hazards and high vulnerability, the Mediterranean region is a hotspot for highly interconnected climate risks. The main economic sectors in the region (agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism) are highly vulnerable to climatic hazards, while socioeconomic vulnerability is also considerable. The low-lying areas are the most vulnerable areas for coastal climate-related risks (e.g., sea level rise, floods, erosion) and other consequent risks (e.g., saltwater intrusion and agriculture damage) (high confidence). Climate change threatens water availability, reducing river low flows and annual runoff by 5–70%, reducing hydropower capacity (high confidence). Yields of rainfed crops may decrease by 64% in some locations (high confidence). Ocean warming and acidification will impact marine ecosystems, with uncertain consequences on fisheries (low confidence). Desertification will affect additional areas, notably in the south and southeast (medium confidence). Burnt area of forests may increase by 96–187% under 3°C, depending on fire management. Beyond 3°C, 13–30% of the Natura 2000 protected area and 15–23% of Natura 2000 sites could be lost due to climate-driven habitat change (medium confidence).”
The above report seals and makes clear that the impacts of Climate Change in our region are no longer hypothetical but real. Some impacts have already started to make their presence felt and others will be felt in the near future in many different sectors of economic activity in our country. There will be impacts on activities related to Agriculture and Fisheries, Tourism and Transport, Energy and consequently το all manufacturing activities and services along the supply chain. Organisations and businesses are therefore urgently called upon to diagnose the socio-economic risks that threaten their productive activity and to draw up programs and measures to mitigate them.
E-ON Integration proposes an innovative software “RiskClima” that empowers businesses and organizations to manage the risks that are consequences of Climate Change. RiskClima is Software as a Service (SaaS). It combines data from the Organization or Enterprise with data from global databases and predicts Risks with Data Analytics methods and advanced Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning techniques in terms of monetary value and quantitative impact. It also proposes measures to mitigate these risks in the Climate Adaptation Horizon (2050) and the intermediate milestones.
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