The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), established under the Paris Agreement, gained further momentum with the adoption of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience at COP28, which provided a framework for assessing progress towards its objectives through thematic and dimensional targets. The adoption of the Belém Adaptation Indicators at COP30 marked a further important step in operationalising the GGA and tracking progress against these targets. With this progress in establishing a global framework and a basis for measuring adaptation efforts, Attention is now shifting towards implementation: how can these indicators inform adaptation planning, guide investments and help assess progress on the ground?

The Mediterranean offers a particularly relevant context for this discussion. While countries across the region face interconnected climate risks, including water stress, extreme heat and ecosystem degradation, they differ significantly in institutional capacities, adaptation priorities and access to finance. Translating the GGA into effective and equitable action will require context-specific approaches, adequate financing and stronger regional cooperation, while also drawing lessons from adaptation experiences in other regions.

Local communities also have a key role to play in building climate resilience, contributing place-based knowledge, identifying vulnerabilities and co-designing and implementing adaptation measures. Effective implementation of the GGA should therefore strengthen their participation in decision-making and connect community-led action with local authorities, national adaptation frameworks and regional cooperation. 

This COP31 panel will bring together Mediterranean think tanks and policy experts from other regions in the world, to examine the evolving global policy and negotiation context surrounding the GGA, while focusing primarily on the implications for its implementation in the Mediterranean. 

Speakers

• Pilar Bueno Rubial, Executive Director, Argentina 1.5
• Imane Saidi, Senior Researcher, Diplomacy and Cooperation Programme, Imal Initiative for Climate and Development 
• Jérémie Fosse, President and Co-founder, eco-union 
• Loubaba  Kharraz, founder of the Moroccan Centre for Empowerment and Sustainable Development

Facilitator: Hanne Knaepen, ECDPM