The Regional Roundtable on ‘Catalysing Financing for Climate Change Adaptation in the Mediterranean Coastal Area: The Role of the Private Sector’, took place on 2-3 December 2024, in Athens & Online. The Regional Roundtable was organised in the framework of the GEF MedProgramme SCCF Project and the EU Water & Environment Support (WES) Project. It is jointly hosted by the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med), Plan Bleu/RAC UNEP/MAP, and the EU WES Project.

In that context, the Blue Tourism Initiative Project Coordinator, Angelo Sciacca (IDDRI), joined the panel discussion on “Experiences on Private Sector Engagement on Climate Adaptation related to Water and Environment.”

Specifically, the private sector can engage in climate adaptation through four main ways:
– companies of all sizes can climate-proof their operations;
– larger companies can invest upstream throughout their supply chain;
– responsible businesses can support climate adaptation actions for community resilience and ecosystem conservation;
– and private capital can finance investments that contribute to climate resilience transitions.
Though there is a long way to go, there has never been more momentum for companies to become more sustainable. However, several barriers still restrict the scaling up of private sector engagement in climate action. For example, companies need more accurate climate data and risk information, improved financial incentives, better-enabling environments, and more insights on emerging business opportunities aligned with national priorities. By overcoming these barriers, private funding for climate action could be substantively increased.

All additional information is available on the Global Water Partnership website.