The report Climate change in the Pyrenees: impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation was presented during the Conference on Natural Risks and Climate Change that the OPCC organised within the framework of the Plenary Council of the Pyrenees Working Community on 12 and 13 November in Zaragoza. Around thirty climate change experts from Spain, France and Andorra presented various chapters from the report and discussed the impact of climate change on the main biophysical and socio-economic sectors of the Pyrenean mountain range. The average temperature in the Pyrenees has increased by 30% more (1.2°C) than the world average (0.85°C) in the last 50 years. In the last 35 years half of the glaciers of the Pyrenees have disappeared, some migratory birds now arrive up to ten days earlier than they did in the 1960s, and the average thickness of the snow in the central Pyrenees may have been reduced by up to 50% according to the most optimistic estimates. These are just some of the facts provided by the report Climate change in the Pyrenees: impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation. This is a document produced over the last two years by more than 100 experts from Aragon, Navarre, Catalonia, Basque Country, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Andorra, which represents a broad scientific consensus for the Pyrenean territory and which has been coordinated by the Pyrenees Climate Change Observatory (OPCC), within the framework of OPCC2, a POCTEFA project led by the Pyrenees Working Community (CTP).

Despite not generating large amounts of carbon emissions, the Pyrenees is a bioregion that is particularly sensitive and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This report aims to update the scientific knowledge base on the impacts on and vulnerability of the Pyrenees, agree on the main challenges they face and propose sectoral recommendations for adaptation to climate change in a context of global change. The document, coordinated by the OPCC, seeks to support policies based on scientific evidence.

Download the full report and the executive summary.

This video presents the 10 most important challenges faced by the Pyrenees in terms of climate change.

The Pyrenees Working Community sees the fight against climate change and adaptation to its effects as an opportunity to address the challenges facing the Pyrenees, such as the loss of biodiversity and changes in landscapes and ecosystems.