In October 2013, the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) launched the “Local, National, and Regional Climate Change (LNRCC) Programme to build upon, expand, and deepen understanding of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change as well as to identify practical adaptive responses at local (Abu Dhabi), national (UAE), and regional (Arabian Peninsula) levels. The design of the Programme was stakeholder-‐driven, incorporating the perspectives of over 100 local, national, and regional stakeholders in shaping 12 research studies across 5 strategic themes. The “Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change” study within this Programme aims to assess the potential impacts and the vulnerability of marine biodiversity and fisheries in the Arabian Gulf to climate change.
The purpose of this “Final Technical Report” is to offer a comprehensive discussion of what has been learned in carrying out the research activities involved in the “Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change” study. Over a series of webinars, all comments raised by stakeholders on a previous draft of the results have been discussed and this Final Technical Report incorporates responses to that feedback in form of updates to the analytical results, additional technical details, and recommendations for future work. In short, this report seeks to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of the results of the assessment, supported by a discussion of the input data, methodology, modelling tools and other issues that can support future research and policymaking regarding the marine conservation planning under climate change.
