About us
The OPCC, created in 2010 within the framework of the Pyrenees Working Community (CTP), promotes awareness and anticipation of the impacts of climate change in the Pyrenean territory through demonstrative actions. Its mission is to establish itself as the benchmark platform for climate information and action at the massif level, offering tools to support decision-making.
PROJECTS
Life Pyrenees4Clima
Towards a climate change-resilient cross-border mountain community in the Pyrenees 2024-2031
Governance and coordination
The OPCC's operations are organised around a Technical Committee, a Coordination Committee, an Advisory Committee and an EPiCC Monitoring Committee.
Technical Committee
The Technical Committee is made up of representatives from the seven territories of the CTP, and its role is to provide guidance and set priorities.
Meritxell CUYAS
Tècnica de l’Oficina de l’energia i del canvi climàtic Ministeri de Medi Ambient, Agricultura i Sostenibilitat, Govern d’Andorra
Toni MOLNE
Tècnic de l’Oficina de l’energia i del canvi climàtic Ministeri de Medi Ambient, Agricultura i Sostenibilitat, Govern d’Andorra
Miguel Ángel Muñoz
Jefe de Servicio de Educación Ambiental y Cambio Climático, de la Dirección General de Educación Ambiental, del Departamento de Medio Ambiente y Turismo, del Gobierno de Aragón
Antonio Navarro
Asesor Técnico de Cambio Climático de la Dirección General de Educación Ambiental, del Departamento de Medio Ambiente y Turismo, del Gobierno de Aragón
Leo Bejarano
Director de la Oficina Catalana de Canvi Climàtic- Departamento de Territorio, Vivienda y Transición Ecológica- Generalitat de Catalunya
Marina Clarà
Tècnica de l’Àrea d’Adaptació de l’Oficina Catalana del Canvi Climàtic. Departamento de Territorio, Vivienda y Transición Ecológica- Generalitat de Catalunya
MariMar Alonso
Directora de Área de Acción Climática: Ihobe, Ingurumen Jarduketarako Sozietate Publikoa / Sociedad Pública de Gestión Ambiental
Malake Muñoz
Responsable de proyectos del Área de Acción Climática; Ihobe, Ingurumen Jarduketarako Sozietate Publikoa / Sociedad Pública de Gestión Ambiental
Estibaliz Lopez
Responsable de la Sección de coordinación de acciones frente al cambio climático/ Departamento de Desarrollo Rural y Medio Ambiente / Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Simón Moulines
Service relations européennes et internationales. Direction Europe et Action Internationale
Luc BIDARD
Responsable de Mission Adaption au changement climatique. Direction Adaptation, Planification Territoriale, Habitat, Nature, Eau, Engagement
Jeremy Amoreau
Chargée de mission- Coopération Transfrontalière – Service Europe – Direction Coopérations, Pôle Affaires Européennes et Internationales Conseil Régional Aquitaine
Fernando Señas
Director de la Oficina de Cambio Climático de Navarra – Gobierno de Navarra
Nicolas Dolidon
Chef du Service transition écologique et territoires, Direction de l’environnement de la Nouvelle Aquitaine
Advisory Committee
The advisory board is made up of scientists and representatives from relevant socio-economic sectors in the Massif. Its mission is to ensure scientific rigour and provide strategic guidance for the OPCC’s work.
Undergoing renovation.
Benjamin Komac
Centre d’Estudis de la Neu i de la Muntanya d’Andorra CEMNA, Institut d’Estudis Andorrans.
Marc Pons
Centre d’Estudis de la Neu i de la Muntanya d’Andorra CEMNA, Institut d’Estudis Andorrans.
M Roland Delary
Le Centre Régional de la Propriété Forestière d’Aquitaine
Michel Castan
l’Interprofession forêt/bois des Pyrénées Atlantiques
Jesús Antonio Insausti
López, Asesor Técnico, en la Dirección General de Ordenación del Territorio
Francho Beltrán Audera
Jefe de Servicio de Política Lingüística, en la Dirección General de Política Lingüística
Josep Enric Llebot
Patronato del Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes y lago de San Mauricio.
Bernat Claramunt López
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
María José Sanz Sánchez
Directora Científica del BC3 (Basque Center for Climate Change)
Sarah Fichot
Association des Chambres d’Agriculture des Pyrénées
Françoise Goulard
Conseiller Recherche, Prospective et Innovation, Mission d’Appui Prospective et International, Agence de l’eau Adour-Garonne
José Luis Pedrafita
Profesor de la UNED. Geólogo.
María Napal
Doctora Universidad Pública de Navarra
Valvanera Ulargui
Directora de la Oficina Española de Cambio Climático, Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente de España
Marianna Elmi
Deputy Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention
José Ramón Picatoste
Project Manager Climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, European Environmental Agency, EEA
Hervé Le Treut
Director de l’Institut Pierre, Simon Laplace, expert de l’IPCC et Président d’AcclimaTerra
Jêrome Duvernoy
Observatoire national sur les effets du réchauffement climatique, Ministère de la Transition Écologique et Solidaire
Carles Miquel
Cap de l’Oficina de l’energia i del canvi climàtic
Delphine Mercadier-Moure
Commissariat du Massif des Pyrénées
Partners
The OPCC is a governance instrument that acts as a connector between the administration (policy makers), the scientific community (in an interdisciplinary approach) and society (economic sectors and citizens).
The network of entities participating in the OPCC is organised through various cross-border cooperation projects. Each entity joins according to its speciality and interests, and each project has its own coordination committee. All information can be found in the Projects section. Currently, the largest project, involving the greatest number of entities, is LIFE PYRENEES4CLIMA.
Comunidad de Trabajo de los Pirineos (CTP)
Universidad de Zaragoza (UNIZAR), climatología (proyecto CLIMPY)
Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología- Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPE-CSIC), los ecosistemas de turberas y lagos de alta montaña (proyecto REPLIM)
Forespir, bosques (proyecto CANOPEE)
Syndicat Conservatoire botanique prénéen agréé – Conservatoire botanique national des Pyrénées (CBNPMP), flora (proyecto FLORAPYR)
Estación experimental Aula Dei-Agencia estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (EEAD-CSIC), el eje temático de recursos hídricos (proyecto PIRAGUA)
Agencia de Investigación Geológica y Minera (BRGM) el eje temático de recursos hídricos (proyecto PIRAGUA).
EPICC Monitoring Committee
La MESEPICC es el órgano de participación creado durante la elaboración de la EPiCC para garantizar la transparencia y la implicación territorial en la implementación de la Estrategia Pirenaica de Cambio Climático. Su misión es servir como espacio de encuentro y enlace entre los agentes del territorio y las personas y entidades representadas en los demás comités.
Está integrada por agentes socioeconómicos, representantes del ámbito local y de la sociedad civil. A propuesta del resto de comités, pueden incorporarse redes y estructuras colaborativas del territorio pirenaico que agrupen entidades sociales y ambientales, administraciones locales, voluntariado ambiental y climático, sectores económicos emergentes y participantes en iniciativas de ciencia ciudadana.
Main functions:
- Ensure the correct implementation of the EPiCC in accordance with its objectives, deadlines and requirements.
- Maintain a two-way connection between local entities and the EPiCC Strategy.
- Discuss proposals for improvement for the implementation of the Strategy.
- Identify initiatives and projects that are synergistic with those developed by the OPCC.
MESEPIC is revitalised through a biennial conference, with the possibility of prior work through working groups or committees.
Territories
The OPCC-CTP operates in the area of the Working Community of the Pyrenees, a space for cross-border cooperation between France, Spain and Andorra.
Andorra
Andorra, a small mountain country in the heart of the Pyrenees, combines a low contribution to global emissions with an ambitious climate policy due to its high vulnerability. Since 2011, it has been a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed the Paris Agreement in 2016 and passed a pioneering law on energy transition and climate adaptation in 2018. In 2020, it declared a state of climate emergency, driven by young people, and updated its climate commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In terms of adaptation, it developed the PAACC, which defines 43 key measures in sectors such as health, agriculture, energy and tourism, aligned with its future energy strategy and focused on nature-based solutions.
Aragón
The Aragon Climate Change Strategy-Horizon 2030 (EACC 2030), approved in 2019, reflects the Aragon Government’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. It constitutes the reference framework for promoting policies and measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and favour adaptation to climate change in the region. To reinforce this commitment, in December 2019 the Institutional Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was approved, which integrates climate action across all areas of the administration.
Governance is supported by the Interdepartmental Commission on Climate Change, a coordinating body within the Government of Aragon, and the Aragonese Climate Council, which acts as a consultative and advisory body. In addition, there is the Climate Change Observatory, designed as a space for information, research and knowledge transfer, with a future website that will compile the scientific results generated in Aragon.
Catalunya
Adaptation to the impacts of climate change has become the other pillar of the fight against climate change, alongside mitigation policies. Adaptation is the ability of natural or human systems to adjust to climate change and its impacts in order to moderate damage or take advantage of opportunities.
One of the aims of Law 16/2017, of 1 August, on climate change, is to reduce the vulnerability of the population, socio-economic sectors and terrestrial and marine ecosystems to the adverse impacts of climate change, as well as to create and strengthen national capacities to respond to these impacts.
The Law also establishes that the Government of Catalonia shall approve the Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change at the proposal of the Interdepartmental Commission on Climate Change, taking into account reports on climate change in Catalonia.
This strategic framework is the Catalan Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change 2013–2020, which contains:
- Assessment of impacts, based on current knowledge.
- The identification of the most vulnerable natural systems, territories and socio-economic sectors.
- A proposal for the adaptation measures needed to reduce vulnerability.
Further information:
Euskadi
The Klima 2050 Strategy is the cross-cutting instrument for climate change in the Basque Country, shared by all the departments of the Basque Government and linked to the policies promoted in the historical territories of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa and their municipalities, with the aim of moving towards a competitive, low-carbon economy adapted to climate change.
Its long-term objectives include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, as well as increasing the resilience of the Basque territory to cope with the expected effects of climate change.
Further information:
- The strategy of the Basque Country
- Actions of the Klima 2050 Strategy
- You can consult climate change indicators through the Basque Country’s Environmental Profile on Climate Change here.
- You can view additional publications related to climate change here.
Navarra
The Autonomous Community of Navarre is located in northern Spain, at the western end of the Pyrenees. Navarre is a community with stark contrasts in temperature and rainfall due to its diverse climate. Three biogeographical areas converge in Navarre (Alpine-Pyrenean, Atlantic and Mediterranean) as well as different climates (oceanic, continental, Mediterranean and mountain). These contrasts are most pronounced on either side of the Cantabrian-Mediterranean watershed, a line of peaks that separates the north of Navarre from the Central Zone and the Ribera, and which also separates areas with very different climates. Regionalised climate scenarios point to a clear increase in average temperatures, number of heat waves, warm days and nights, and a decrease in the number of frost days, as well as a “Mediterraneanisation” of the rainfall regime (greater variability in the temporal distribution and types of rainfall).
Navarre is committed to sustainability and the fight against climate change, moving towards a new socio-economic and energy model with a low-carbon economy adapted to climate effects, to be a benchmark for sustainable development, with an environmentally responsible territory that is efficient in its use of resources, with a balance between people, their activities and the environment that sustains them, in line with the Smart Specialisation Strategy and the social policies of the Government of Navarra. All of this is directly related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda (SDGs).
Climate change adaptation measures
The Government of Navarre, aware of the need to implement a comprehensive and cross-cutting strategy in Navarre to address the challenge of climate change at the local level, has drawn up the KLINA Climate Change Roadmap, approved in January 2018, taking on board the international objectives of the European Union Strategy, the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Government of Navarre is leading the LIFE-IP NAdapta-CC project, part of the EU LIFE Programme, as an integrated climate action project, 2016 call, which is integrated into KLINA. The Government of Navarre is the coordinator, together with its partners: Instituto Navarro de Tecnologías e Infraestructuras Agroalimentarias, S.A. (INTIA); Gestión Ambiental de Navarra, S.A. (GAN); Navarra de Suelo y Vivienda, S.A. (NASUVINSA); Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales, S.A. (NILSA); and the Public University of Navarra (UPNA). The period of action is from October 2017 to December 2025. This ensures its integration with the HCCN Roadmap.
The objective of LIFE NAdapta is to increase Navarre’s capacity to adapt to climate change through intersectorality, long-term sustainability, participation and networking. This project aims to integrate different sectoral policies so that the fight against climate change is incorporated into their programming and development. It is therefore a regional project that allows progress to be made in different sectors in a coordinated manner.
ACTIONS
MONITORING CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
- Scorecard for monitoring the effects of climate change in Navarre.
- Promote the application of sustainability criteria in local authorities through the promotion of Mayors’ Climate and Energy Agreements.
ADAPTATION MEASURES IN FIVE SECTORS:
Water :
- Equip wastewater treatment plants to deal with environmental emergencies and promote sustainable urban drainage systems.
- Reduce the impact of flooding through an early warning system, municipal self-protection plans, and river restoration.
- Assess the availability of water resources to improve demand management.
Forests:
- Identification of the most vulnerable forests.
- Selection and conservation of seeds from the best-adapted native species.
- Inclusion of adaptive management measures in forest management and planning schemes.
Agriculture and livestock farming:
- Improve the adaptability of agrosystems with innovative strategies for soil, plant material and irrigation water management.
- Establish early warning systems for emerging pests and diseases.
- Minimise the risk of fires through silvopastoral management.
Health:
- Information and recording systems on the consequences of climate change on health: extreme weather events, air quality, emerging risks and vectors harmful to health (tiger mosquitoes, ticks, etc.).
- Inclusion of preventive measures in the Navarre Occupational Health Plan.
- Information dissemination systems and adaptation measures.
Infrastructure and territorial planning:
- Integrate climate change into landscape management and territorial planning tools.
- Management platform for adapting public buildings to climate change.
- Energy regeneration and adaptation projects in urban and rural environments and analysis of the vulnerability of key transport infrastructure.
Occitanie
The Occitanie region, located in southern France and created during the 2016 territorial reorganisation, encompasses territories with great geographical diversity: from the Mediterranean coast to the Pyrenees and parts of the Massif Central. Its size, population and climatic variety make it one of the most strategic regions for addressing the challenges of climate change.
To put ourselves in context: Occitania has a Mediterranean coastline, multiple river basins and mountain ranges, and a heterogeneous population density with urban centres (Toulouse, Montpellier, Perpignan) and rural and mountain areas that are highly sensitive to environmental changes.
Regional scientific knowledge: RECO and CROCC
Unlike the Aquitaine model, which established a regional committee of climate experts, Occitanie opted to set up a similar group: in 2017, RECO (Groupe régional d’experts sur le climat) was created as a body that brings together scientific knowledge, dialogue with institutional actors and the development of awareness-raising tools (reco-occitanie.org).
One of RECO’s first initiatives was the development of the Cahier Régional Occitanie sur les Changements Climatiques (CROCC), published in 2021, which serves as a reference on observed and projected climate phenomena in Occitanie. This document complements national assessments and draws inspiration from regional models such as AcclimaTerra in New Aquitaine.
The CROCC provides key scientific data on regional trends in temperature, precipitation, climate extremes and local vulnerabilities, enabling an integrated understanding of climate change in the territory.
Strategies, plans and regional action
Based on this knowledge, the region has been implementing adaptation and mitigation policies.
In December, the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan was adopted with a budget of €200 million over seven years, with the aim of protecting populations, property and nature from the increase in extreme weather events.
This plan is based on three pillars: anticipation and adaptation, distribution of investments in reconstruction and repair, and innovation and cooperation between public and private actors.
In terms of territorial planning, Occitania has integrated climate challenges into its SRADDET (Schéma Régional d’Aménagement, de Développement Durable et d’Égalité des Territoires), which sets out the territorial roadmap for 2040, in line with national laws on ecological transition.
The region is promoting COP Occitanie, launched in 2023, as an ecological planning platform that links regional roadmaps with national commitments to emissions reduction and energy transition.
At the territorial level, in 2023 the region launched a call for 11 pilot territories to assist them in defining climate adaptation strategies.
For the coastline, the PACCLO (Plan d’Adaptation au Changement Climatique du Littoral d’Occitanie, 2024-2027) is a joint initiative by the State and the region to deploy local strategies for integrated coastal management.
The region also promotes a MOOC on climate change adaptation, developed by scientists and regional actors, as a training and awareness-raising tool.
In terms of biodiversity, Occitania has a Regional Biodiversity Strategy, a Regional Biodiversity Committee (CRB) and projects such as Les Sentinelles du Climat, which study the effects of climate change on species and ecosystems.
Nouvelle-Aquitanie
New Aquitaine, France’s largest region following the 2016 reorganisation, has a population of almost 6 million, 720 km of coastline and is a leader in agriculture, timber and photovoltaic energy. Faced with a lack of local information on climate change, the C2A scientific committee was created in 2011, led by Hervé Le Treut, which published the first regional report on climate impacts in France in 2013. Following the regional merger, the committee was renamed AcclimaTerra, mobilising more than 240 experts to produce the 2018 report ‘Anticipating climate change in New Aquitaine’, with a diagnosis and recommendations for adaptation.
At the same time, ECOBIOSE was created in 2017, an interdisciplinary committee that assesses biodiversity and ecosystem services at a regional level, inspired by IPBES. Drawing on the scientific expertise of both committees, the Regional Council is promoting the ecological and energy transition towards 2030 through the Néo Terra roadmap, structured around 11 major ambitions ranging from agroecology and clean energy to sustainable mobility, waste management and biodiversity preservation.
For further information:
AcclimaTerra, Le Treut, H. (ed.). Anticipating climate change in New Aquitaine. Taking action in the territories. Éditions Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 2018, 488 p.
ECOBIOSE, Rapport d’évaluation sur le rôle de la biodiversité dans les socio-écosystèmes de Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Informe de evaluación sobre el papel de la biodiversidad en los socio-ecosistemas de Nueva-Aquitania), 2019.
Neo Terra Roadmap www.neo-terra.fr
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