Policy Brief "Summary results of Azores case studies"

The Azores is a 9-island archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, a Portuguese Autonomous Region and one of the EU outermost regions. The economy depends on agriculture (cattle & fodder), nature‑based tourism and nine islanded power systems. Stakeholders identified climate pressures—rainfall variability, coastal saline intrusion and storm‑driven extremes—that jeopardise food production, water availability, landscape quality and energy reliability. This policy brief distils stakeholder-selected land-based adaptation and mitigation solutions (LAMS) that keep development within ecosystem limits while advancing decarbonisation. It outlines practical options to strengthen water security, upscale climate-smart farming, safeguard the tourism asset, and stabilize the clean-energy transition, while addressing insularity-related barriers. The brief targets regional policymakers, local authorities, farmer cooperatives, tourism operators, and energy planners.