Investigating the Climate-Related Risk of Forest Fires for Mediterranean Islands’ Blue Economy

Valentina Bacciu, Maria Hatzaki, Anna Karali, Adeline Cauchy, Christos Giannakopoulos, Donatella Spano and Elodie Briche
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Valentina Bacciu: Fondazione CMCC—Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services (IAFES) Division, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Maria Hatzaki: Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, School of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, GR-15772 Athens, Greece
Anna Karali: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, GR-15236 Athens, Greece
Adeline Cauchy: Ramboll France SAS, 13290 Aix-en-Provence, France
Christos Giannakopoulos: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, GR-15236 Athens, Greece
Donatella Spano: Fondazione CMCC—Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici, Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services (IAFES) Division, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Elodie Briche: Ramboll France SAS, 13290 Aix-en-Provence, France

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-22

Abstract: The Mediterranean islands’ blue economy and, more specifically, the tourism sector, largely regulate Europe’s gross product. Climate change threatens the ecological, societal, and economic sustainability of the islands in many ways, with increasing wildfires making up one of the most critical components of the climate change impacts on tourism. Here, we aim to identify and assess forest fire vulnerability and risk due to climate change for seven Mediterranean islands through the application of the “impact chain” conceptual framework. The backbone of this approach requires the integration of quantitative and qualitative data according to the three main risk components sensu the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), i.e., hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, with a structured participatory approach involving stakeholders and experts. Our results illustrate the islands with high potential for improvement in terms of adapting capacity and, by indicating the contribution of the different risk components, highlight the main environmental and socio-economic elements that affect the islands’ vulnerability and risk under climate change. The approach’s potentials and constraints are discussed, suggesting that the method can be handily used to point out the priorities that must be addressed by mitigation and adaptation policies and measures at the island level.

Keywords: Mediterranean islands; forest fires; fire weather; impact chains; blue economy; EURO-CORDEX; future climate projections; H2020 SOCLIMPACT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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