39 CONCLUSIONS C limate change in the Eastern Mediterranean poses a particular set of risks, both to domestic stability and to international security. Societies and economies are already being disrupted. The political and security consequences of these disruptions will not take decades to emerge: they are evident now. Regional and international action to minimize climate-related security risks in the Eastern Mediterranean will be complicated by a number of factors. The security agenda is crowded with pressing issues, which makes it exceptionally difficult for policy makers and govern­ments to consider longer time frames. 175 Domestic fragility pushes governments and donors to focus on crisis management and stabilization objectives, sometimes at the expense of longer-term developmental goals. 176 Longstanding political blockages, including recognition issues, prevent the application of governance instruments that have supported climate change adaptation in other contexts, such as transboundary watercourse data and information sharing mechanisms or flexible water treaties. 177 Policy makers will need creativity to overcome these impediments. Although regional political leadership and coordination often seem impossible, enhanced technical efforts, combined with sub-state leadership, may offer a way forward. Some longstanding inter­governmental frameworks exclude key states; but the Mediterranean space, with its various technical and political frameworks, offers alternatives. And although opposition to government 175 This may have contributed to the relative lack of climate-security analysis, which is surprising given the strategic importance of this region: despite its status as a climate change“hot spot”, the Mediterranean remains“rather underinvestigated in terms of comprehensive analyses and assessments” of the risks posed by climate change, including the potential role of climate change as a threat multiplier. Regional Climate Change Adaptation Framework for the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Areas, United Nations Environment Programme/ Mediterranean Action Plan(UN Environment/MAP), 2017, p.23. 176 The EU’s revised European Neighbourhood Policy indicates how the European approach to the region shifted in the wake of the 2015 refugee crisis, and the attempt to balance the requirements of stability with longer term development objectives:“The ENP is a long-term engagement with the EU’s neighbours, but it also needs to take account of the most pressing needs. In the next three to five years, the most urgent challenge in many parts of the neighbourhood is stabilization[ …]The policy should help make partner countries places where people want to build their future, and help tackle uncontrolled movement of people.”‘Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy,’ European Commission, Brussels, 18 November 2015. 177 For examples of such practices, see Water and Climate Diplomacy: Integrative Approaches for Adaptive Action in Transboundary River Basins, Sabine Blumstein, Benjamin Pohl and Dennis Tänzler, Adelphi, Berlin, 2016.