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The Middle East and North Africa region has the highest coastal concentration in the world and most of the forecasted population growth in the region will happen in coastal cities. Indeed, MENA coastal cities are home to over 60 million people today and an estimated 100 million by 2030. In addition, The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable areas of the world to the impacts of climate change.

Background: In order to better understand the impacts of climate change in this region, the World Bank is conducting a major regional study focusing on the vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and natural disasters in Alexandria, Casablanca and Tunis, as well as of the Bouregreg Valley urban development project in Morocco. GFDRR, NTF-PSI and TFESSD are co-financing the effort. The technical studies are carried out by a consortium of companies comprising Egis BCEOM, IAU-RIF and BRGM. The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transportation and the European Space Agency are contributing in kind, and the CMI is supporting the study in its communication and outreach events.

Outcomes: The study has generated detailed urban risk assessments focusing on coastal erosion and storm surges, flooding, marine inundation, heat waves, water scarcity, earthquake and tsunami risks, for each urban location. On the basis of such assessments, Adaptation and Resilience Action Plans are being framed, which will address preventive and remedial actions on: a) infrastructure protection and upgrades; b) urban planning measures; and c) regulatory and managerial measures for risk reduction.

A series of regional and national consultations have taken place since mid-2009 to discuss the urban risk assessment reports of the participating cities, and more recently the draft Adaptation and Resilience Action Plans with national and local counterparts, World Bank team, partners and consultants.

The May 30-31 Final Regional Workshop has the following objectives:
a) to allow representatives from the three cities and the project site to discuss and validate the final Adaptation and Resilience Action Plans, benefiting from regional exchanges and interactions;
and b) to allow representatives of other cities and countries from the Southern Mediterranean (e.g. Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria) to be directly exposed to the methodology and results of the study in order to replicate it where needed.

General information of the Workshop

For more information,
contact:
Mr. Anthony G. Bigio, Senior Urban Specialist, Sustainable Development Network, The World Bank, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Candice Le Tourneur, Consultant, CMI, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.egis-bceominternational.com
www.cmimarseille.org/Cities-and-climate-change

In order to bring together the key stakeholders and to support local decision makers in the identification of the responses to such challenges, the program organized 3 workshops which took place in Alexandria, Tunis and Casablanca.
The three events focused on presenting to national and local stake-holders the results of the assessments, to elicit comments and clarifications, as well as to start the participatory process of prioritizing the key issues.

To download the summaries of these studies, see the website : www.cmimarseille.org/Cities-and-climate-change

More information on the website : www.cmimarseille.org/Cities-and-climate-change_wk2.php