SHARA

Spain is highly vulnerable to climate change. It was one of the first countries in Europe to address the challenge of climate change adaptation, approving a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC) in 2006.

PNACC has been developed to align itself closely with the main instruments and elements adopted at European level, in particular the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change. The key objectives of the EU Strategy, which was adopted by the European Commission in April 2013, are to promote action by Member States, better informed decision-making and adaptation in key vulnerable sectors.

The same year, the Spanish Office for Climate Change and Fundación Biodiversidad, working in partnership with the units responsible for adaptation to climate change in the autonomous regions of Spain, established the AdapteCCa platform to support knowledge sharing, dissemination of information and networking between all individuals and organisations active in the field of climate change adaptation, at all levels.

Climate change adaptation is a very complex field, where the public and private dimensions converge. Hence, good governance is essential to making it work.

In July 2015, Portugal adopted its national strategy on adaptation to climate change, which provides for the establishment of a system for Iberian cooperation, particularly in terms of the resources and systems shared by the two countries.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the LIFE SHARA project is to strengthen climate change adaptation governance in Spain and Portugal, so as to increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. This will be achieved through the following specific actions:

Enhancing the capacity and functionality of the AdapteCCa platform, by improving the quality and quantity of the information it contains and encouraging greater use;

Strengthening technical capacities for adaptation to climate change and raising awareness by organising training courses and dissemination activities on climate change adaptation outcomes. By implementing these actions, the relevance of the PNACC and the need for adaptation action will be widely disseminated throughout Spanish society.

Special attention will be paid to training the trainers; and

Enhancing coordination and cooperation among stakeholders through the reinforcement of links between the private sector and local, regional and national administrations in Spain, as well as with neighbouring Portugal. The project also aims to reinforce synergies between the AdapteCCa platform and the EU Climate-ADAPT portal, in line with Action 5 of the implementation of the EU Adaptation Strategy;

Assessing the influence of the PNACC in boosting Spain’s adaptive capacities and climate change resilience; and

Contributing to the implementing of the EU Adaptation Strategy by supporting the development of vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans.

The project expects to achieve the following results:

A 10% annual increase in new registered users of the AdapteCCa platform;

10% more content on the platform each year, as well as qualitative improvements such as new working groups;

Six capacity-building courses, to be attended by more than 200 local government technicians, academics and professionals;

Four sectoral workshops, involving more than 200 experts;

An Iberian Conference on Adaptation to increase awareness of climate change impacts and adaptation measures;

Greater information exchange between Spain and Portugal on shared vulnerabilities and identification of common priorities and actions;

Strengthening the synergies between AdapteCCa and Climate-ADAPT; and

The assessment of Spain’s PNACC will feed into the first assessment of the impact of climate change adaptation in Spain.