A major cross-border project to prepare the region for climate change is being launched all across Pyrenees, including the Basque Country
30/10/2024
With a total of 46 partners, the project includes the Public Environmental Management Company, Ihobe, representing the Basque Government; Neiker Technology Centre; BC3-Basque Centre For Climate Change-Klima Aldaketa Ikergai; the Gipuzkoa-Naturklima Climate Change Foundation; and HAZI Fundazioa, the latter through FORESPIR. Other local and cross-border entities are also working on the development of these experiences.
PYRENEES4CLIMA will develop 33 demonstration cases – practical examples of Europe’s first cross-border climate change strategy in the mountain environment.
The Pyrenees and all their biodiversity are threatened by climate change, and the effects are visible at a faster rate than in other regions: according to the scientific community, in the last six decades, the temperature in the Pyrenees has risen 30% more than the global average for the planet. This situation calls for urgent and large-scale action, regardless of borders. This is the goal of the European project LIFE PYRENEES4CLIMA, “Towards a climate-resilient cross-border mountain community in the Pyrenees 2024-2031”, in which six regions in Spain and France (Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, Occitania and New Aquitaine) and the state of Andorra are participating.
Coordinated by the Pyrenees Climate Change Observatory (OPCC) of the Working Community of the Pyrenees (CTP), the project will implement Europe’s first cross-border climate change strategy in the mountain environment, called EPiCC. This will take place in the local environment: in fact, its commitment to specific intervention in the territories of the Pyrenees bioregion is one of its greatest assets. To this end, over the next seven years, 33 demonstration experiences of climate change adaptation will be implemented, thanks to this cross-border collaboration between seven territories in the Pyrenees. In total, 46 entities from these territories will work on the same action that focuses on various areas and aims to build resilience in the Pyrenees by implementing adaptation measures. The budget is almost 20 million euros, of which 60% will be funded by EU LIFE.
Two pilot cases in the Basque Country
Within the project, the pilot experiences are working on five areas to achieve adaptation: understanding climate impacts, increasing the resilience of natural spaces, adapting the mountain economy, protecting the population and territory from natural-climate risks and the deterioration of resources, and promoting an innovative system of climate governance that involves citizens, socio-economic sectors, the scientific community and political decision-makers.
Basque partners involved in the project include the Public Environmental Management Company, Ihobe, representing the Basque Government; Neiker Technology Centre; BC3-Basque Centre For Climate Change-Klima Aldaketa Ikergai; the Gipuzkoa-Naturklima Climate Change Foundation; and HAZI Fundazioa, the latter through FORESPIR. Other local and cross-border entities are also working on the development of these experiences.
Specifically, two pilot cases covering two of these areas will be carried out in the Basque Country. The first one will focus on the mountain economy and will be implemented in the Alava mountain region. Led by FORESPIR through HAZI Fundazioa, it involves strengthening the forest/wood value chain to improve the adaptation of the sector and the development of forests to climate change. The aim is to test, promote and implement an approach that carries out forest management that is similar to natural processes and takes into account the multifunctional character of the forest, establishing dialogue and action between upstream and downstream parts of the timber industry and promoting the use of local timber as a real solution for the future. These same actions will be carried out in four other areas of the Pyrenees, applying transfer and mutual learning methodologies.
The second case focuses on supporting the economic sectors that are most affected by climate change, within the field of climate knowledge and evolution. Specifically, climate change indicators will be created and validated through a process of consultation with various agents in the Basque Country, with the focus on the primary sector in particular. Led by Naturklima, the results will be presented together with the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), Météo France and the Meteorological Service of Catalonia. The aim is to look for indicators that really provide useful information for this sector, in particular for mountain agriculture, livestock farming and forestry management. A guide will be produced explaining this established process, including a specific sheet for each indicator with its definition, reference value and usefulness. A list of all the climate change indicators that can be calculated in the Pyrenees based, above all, on the evolution of temperature and rainfall is now available. The consultation work is planned for January 2027, with local involvement.
About the EPiCC
The LIFE PYRENEES4CLIMA project will enable the implementation of the Pyrenees Climate Change Strategy (EPiCC), the first of its kind in Europe. It is a cross-border strategy for climate change in mountain areas, led by the seven Pyrenean territories, belonging to three different countries, and established through a participatory process involving the entire mountain range.
