Policy Session

What Euro-Med African Partnership for climate change adaptation and mitigation?

14th of December 2022, 4:30pm (CET)

Description

The Mediterranean is where a diverse array of societies thrives, united by a shared heritage and now, a shared challenge: climate change. The socio-economic fabric of the region, interlaced with varying degrees of wealth, development, and cultures, grapples with the tangible consequences of a shifting climate. From agricultural decline to economic instabilities threatening heritage-rich coastal cities, the impacts are profound and far-reaching to the African continent.

The Mediterranean’s collective response to this climate crisis transcends mere environmental concern, evolving into a vital socio-economic battle anchored in mitigation and adaptation that demands cross-border solidarity and concerted action and burden sharing.

It is against this critical juncture that the panel discussion is convened, aiming to foster united efforts that span the economic disparities and social diversities of the region.

Our panel is aimed to set the path toward socio-economic resilience through shared initiative and responsibility. The Mediterranean nations, intertwined in a complex web of trade, tourism, and tradition, recognize their interdependent futures. The conversation will prioritize strategies for sustainable economic development, just transition, equitable resource distribution, and policy synchronization to safeguard the region’s socio-economic interests. Participants will delve into the multi-layered socio-economic challenges presented by climate change and explore collaborative solutions vital for the region’s stability.

MODERATOR

Rym Ayadi

President Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), Director, EU-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES

Professor Rym Ayadi is Founder and Director of the EU-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES, formerly EMNES), Founder and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), Professor at the Bayes Business School, City University of London, and Member of the Centre for Banking Research (CBR). 

She is also Associated Scholar at the Centre for Relationship Banking and Economics (CERBE) at LUMSA University in Rome.

Senior Research Advisor at the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) in Piran, Slovenia.

PANELISTS

WHO THEY ARE

Cinzia Alcidi

Director of Research, Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium

Dr. Cinzia Alcidi is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels and LUISS- School of European Political Economy- research fellow.

Prior to joining CEPS, she worked at International Labour Office in Geneva and she taught International Economics at University of Perugia (Italy). Her research activity includes international economics, macroeconomics, central banking and EU governance.Since 2015 she is the coordinator of CEPS Academy Activities. She has experience in coordinating research projects and networks. She has published extensively on the economics and governance of the Euro area crisis and participates regularly in international conferences.

She holds a Ph.D. degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Switzerland).

Nathalie Hilmi

Section Head of Environmental Economics, Scientific Center of Monaco

Dr Nathalie Hilmi is an expert in Macroeconomics and International Finance. After doing research and giving lectures at the CEMAFI (Centre d’études en Macroeconomie et Finance Internationale), University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis (UNSA), France, she obtained her PhD thesis with honours in 2000. She then joined Allergan, a pharmaceutical American group, as a financial analyst and continued giving lectures in economics and management in private business schools. Subsequently she taught at EDHEC Business School and continued her research work with EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre. In 2006, she was employed at the International University of Monaco as Professor of Macroeconomics and Finance. Her research work encompassed academic studies and conference presentations to develop the network of the Hedge Funds Research Institute (HFRI), and applied researches on investment strategies in Alpstar, a hedge fund in Geneva. She continued to teach in executive programs in EDHEC and a national training centre for banking executives. Concomitantly, she continued working at the CEMAFI as an associate researcher. She organized conferences for HFRI and UNSA: on “Bridging Mathematics, Social Sciences and Finance” and the “8th MEEA International Conference”. She is a member of several international associations in economics and finance (elected board member of the Middle East Economic Association) and she actively participates in the reviewing and editing of specialized publications. In 2010, she joined the Centre Scientifique de Monaco as section head of environmental economics and collaborated with IAEA’s Environment Laboratories to initiate correlation studies between environmental sciences and economics to better evaluate the socioeconomic extent of impacts and costs of action versus inaction with regard to carbon emissions. She is in charge of the coordination for the preparation and organization of the workshop series “Bridging the gap between ocean acidification impacts and economic valuation” held in Monaco every two years. She passed her post-doctoral degree (HDR) in 2011 about “a muldisciplinary approach of sustainable development”. She is lead author for IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) in the chapter 5 on “Changing oceans, marine ecosystems and dependent communities” and the cross-chapter box on “low lying islands and coasts” and for the WGII AR6 (Sixth assessment report) in chapter 18 on “climate-resilient development pathways” and cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean. She was reviewer for the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and for the Special Report on Climate Change and Land and IPBES reports.

Grammenos Mastrojeni

Grammenos Mastrojeni

Senior Deputy Secretary General, Union for the Mediterranean

Iolanda Fresnillo

Policy and Advocacy Manager - Debt Justice Eurodad

Iolanda Fresnillo is Policy and Advocacy Manager on Debt Justice at Eurodad. Over the last two decades, Iolanda has been closely involved in local, national and international social movements and has campaigned on development finance, debt, human rights, feminism and environment. She worked for more than 10 years at Observatori del Deute en la Globalització and then as a consultant for different institutions and organisations. Iolanda holds a MA in Development and Cooperation and a BA in Sociology, both from the University of Barcelona.