Climate-Smart Neum: A Multi-Risk Assessment for Sustainable Coastal Development (CSN)

This deliverable is a climate risk assessment addressing climate hazards in the Municipality of Neum, the only seaside administrative unit of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Situated in the southern part of the country, it is an area at the contact of waterless karstic terrain and Adriatic coast characterized by Mediterranean climate. The reader will learn from this deliverable about the most important climate hazards and their geographic and time dimensions just as the most relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of climate adaptation policies in the Municipality. During this initial phase of the project several main actions were undertaken like assessment of the relevant climate hazards and geographic areas that are especially threatened by their impact and assessment of local stakeholders affected by implementation of climate change adaptation policies. The main results and findings of research during the first phase of the project are understanding of the most relevant climate hazards, definition of vulnerable areas, recognition of local stakeholders and climate risk analysis. Besides humans and their activities, climate hazards in the municipality also have a negative impact on ecosystems in the rural hinterland and for those in the Adriatic Sea. The research also showed the impact of salinization of freshwater in the neighbouring Neretva River Delta, from where municipality of Neum gets drinking water for its water-supply system. If salinization in the Delta region continues, the Municipality of Neum would be forced to use local sources which get the water from rainfall. In such circumstances, the impact of contemporary climate hazards on humans and their activities would be even more important. All the results achieved are fundamental for next stage of the project since they are necessary for research in the future, especially for designation of climate change adaptation strategies and policies on local level together with their implementation in various parts of the Municipality. Climate risk assessment in the Municipality of Neum showed that climate hazards are an important issue not only on regional but also on local level. The assessment confirmed that climate change accelerates climate hazards and raises concerns among certain groups of the local population. These social groups form stakeholders whose way of life and activities may be affected by climate adaptation policies. The research showed that there are two key hazards in the municipality: droughts and heatwaves. Droughts are characteristic for prolonged period of warm part of the year and are registered throughout the Municipality. On the other hand, heatwaves are predominantly typical for densely urbanized seaside areas of the town of Neum, almost exclusively oriented towards beach tourism. The two hazards may have a very negative impact in the future because droughts determine local water-supply of dwellings and development of agriculture while heatwaves may have an impact on beach tourism in the coastal area.