The Mediterranean, cradle of various ancient civilizations unites three continents. It is home to over 500 million people, a prolific food producing region, a major trade and shipping route and the leading tourist destination in the world. The notorious Mediterranean climate, symbolic of well-being, predictability and hence prosperity, is changing at an alarming rate. Various scientific reports, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC), refer to the Mediterranean as a climate hotspot – one of the most vulnerable regions due to the effects of climate change. Needless to say that minimising harm depends upon how fast States, especially the biggest emitters will phase out greenhouse gas emissions, the very source of harm. Equally urgent is the need for States to understand and prepare themselves against the impacts of climate change. The IPCC scenarios have repeatedly shown that if the Paris agreement is honoured, climate change impacts would be less perilous but significant adaptation efforts are essential to ensure resilience at the global, regional and national level. Adaptation measures are complex and as wide-ranging as the variety of climate impacts themselves. Some adaptation measures are geared to deal with impacts that strike suddenly and with more frequency, like extreme weather events. Other slow-onset adaptation measures aim for preparedness against effects like sea level rise that will happen gradually but which will persist over time. Malta is currently preparing a new climate adaptation strategy that reflects its contemporary realities. The outcome of this exercise will provide a cross-sectoral adaptation strategy for Malta, based upon the latest scientific scenarios and factoring in the results of an intensive public consultation exercise. Malta’s adaptation strategy, is a crucial policy-making exercise because preparedness against the effects of climate change is key to Malta’s socio-economic resilience, primarily to ensure the safety and well-being of our people, but also in terms of maintaining and improving upon our competitiveness and productivity. The leap in climate governance brought about by the setting up of the Climate Action Authority and the National Climate Action Council last October, means that Malta now has both an independent executive entity directly responsible for monitoring climate action at the national level, as well as an independent advisory body to guide policy and decision-making through evidence based research. Both the Authority and the Council have embarked on a permanent outreach exercise with State and non-State actors. Inevitably, Malta cannot do it alone. Adaptation to climate change requires a concerted global and regional effort. The upcoming 30th Climate Conference of the Parties (COP 30) in Brazil later this year, aims to achieve consensus on the Global Goal of Adaptation. Malta has been leading, on behalf of the EU, the Ministerial negotiations on adaptation at the last COPs and was one of the first EU member States to call for an EU-wide adaptation strategy. Geographically, we are both a European and also a Mediterranean nation. So Malta believes in the need to foster robust cooperation and collaboration to promote a climate-resilient Mediterranean. Acknowledging that sea level rise is a life-changing threat for the region, the Ministry for Energy the Environment and Public Cleanliness and the Climate Action Authority are hosting an International Conference on 16th September 2025, entitled Med Action Against Rising Seas. The Conference will be technical in nature and aims to initiate a process that will lead to a Regional Action Plan for Sea Level Rise Preparedness in the Mediterranean. Various efforts to understand and prepare against sea level rises are already happening in the individual Mediterranean States, especially those on the Northern shore but it is time to share this knowledge base and work together to find the right options. The protection of the Mediterranean environment has always been a unifying factor for the littoral States, despite their many differences. This year in fact, marks the 50th anniversary of the Mediterranean Action Plan, which was the very first regional sea programme that became a prototype for other regions of the world. Today the threat of sea level rise requires the same Mediterranean States to plan ahead through cooperation and collaboration, across all levels, not least by involving the academia, NGOs businesses and other non-State actors. The Conference will be action-oriented, presenting hands-on, technical solutions on how Mediterranean States can devise a plan that remains fit-for-purpose in dealing with sea level rise risks. This will be the start of a long process in identifying the pathway for preparedness. The conference will provide a much-needed platform for sharing: the existing knowledge base, currently in the hands of individual states and entities; examples of best practice and build financial literacy to unlock funding opportunities for sea level rise preparedness. The aim is to build upon what is already being done in a concerted forward planning exercise, to secure the region’s potential in safeguarding lives and livelihoods, in understanding the need for change so as to leave no one behind.Prof Simone Borg is the chairperson of the National Climate Action Council•