The Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (OPCC), created in 2010 by the Pyrenean Working Community (CTP), celebrates its 15th anniversary as a European benchmark for understanding and addressing the effects of global warming in mountain regions. During this time, the OPCC has become the leading technical and scientific body dedicated to studying climate change in the Pyrenees and a stable forum for cooperation between administrations and research centres in the seven territories that make up the mountain range: Andorra, Aragon, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie.
The Observatory works in a context of rapid and observable change. Pyrenean glaciers have lost 94.5% of their surface area since the mid-19th century and more than fifty have disappeared since 1985. Climate series show sustained increases in temperature, changes in snow patterns and a greater recurrence of extreme events. To document this evolution, the OPCC has developed pioneering tools, such as its geoportal, with more than 700 layers of climate information, and the Pyrenees Cryosphere portal, presented to UNESCO, which allows for comparative monitoring of the evolution of snow, glaciers and permafrost.

Over the past fifteen years, the OPCC has promoted milestones that have marked a turning point in climate research in the massif. It published the first comprehensive report on the impacts and vulnerabilities of climate change in the Pyrenees — recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — and coordinated the development of the Pyrenean Climate Change Strategy (EPiCC), a shared roadmap with a 2050 horizon that is being rolled out through a 2030 Operational Plan with 72 actions. This strategy is currently being implemented through LIFE SIP Pyrenees4Clima (2024–2031), a programme worth almost €20 million that includes 33 demonstration actions on mitigation, adaptation and governance, with the participation of 46 technical and scientific entities.
The Observatory has also been the driving force behind a cross-border network that has enabled 20 European projects to be launched in programmes such as Interreg POCTEFA, Interreg SUDOE, Horizon Europe and LIFE. This cooperation has facilitated common methodologies for assessing climate risks, improved the quality and comparability of available data, and strengthened joint governance in a territory where phenomena such as fires, heat waves, water stress and degradation of mountain ecosystems affect all valleys equally.
After fifteen years of continuous work, the OPCC has established itself as an indispensable technical hub for understanding climate change in the Pyrenees and supporting public decision-making. Its most recent scientific opinion, signed by 23 experts and presented to the CTP Plenary in Toulouse, analyses the emerging natural and climate risks in the mountain range and proposes measures to strengthen prevention, planning and resilience in the territory.