The First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1) prepared by the independent network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change (MedECC) founded in 2015 was published in November 2020. MAR1 assesses the best available scientific knowledge on climate and environmental change and associated risks in the Mediterranean Basin in order to render it accessible to policymakers, stakeholders and citizens. The report has been written by 190 scientists from 25 countries, all contributing in individual capacity and without financial compensation. The report includes a Summary for Policymakers (SPM), which comprises the key messages of the MAR1. The UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention Secretariat, through its Plan Bleu Regional Activity Center, and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean work in partnership to support MedECC, and to contribute to establish a sound and transparent scientific assessment process.

This book explores how vulnerable and resilient communities from SIDS are affected by climate change; proposes and, where possible, evaluates adaptation activities; identifies factors capable of enhancing or inhibiting SIDS people's long-term ability to deal with climate change; and critiques the discourses, vocabularies, and constructions around SIDS dealing with climate change. The contributions, written by well-established scholars, as well as emerging authors and practitioners, in the field, include conceptual papers, coherent methodological approaches, and case studies from the communities based in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. In their introduction, the editors contextualise the book within the current literature. They emphasise the importance of stronger links between climate change science and policy in SIDS, both to increase effectiveness of policy and also boost scholarly enquiry in the context of whose communities are often excluded by mainstream research. This book is timely and appropriate, given the recent commission by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of a Special Report that aims at addressing vulnerabilities, "especially in islands and coastal areas, as well as the adaptation and policy development opportunities" following the Paris Agreement. Coupled with this, there is also the need to support the policy community with further scientific evidence on climate change-related issues in SIDS, accompanying the first years of implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.