The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the France-based NGO Plan Bleu supported a regional conference in Malta, in which stakeholders and Parties to the Barcelona Convention reviewed a revised sustainable development strategy for the Mediterranean region.
articipants considered six thematic areas of the revised Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD): seas and coasts; natural resources; rural development and food; climate; sustainable cities; transition towards a green economy; and governance.
18 February 2015: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the France-based NGO Plan Bleu supported a regional conference in Malta, in which stakeholders and Parties to the Barcelona Convention reviewed a revised sustainable development strategy for the Mediterranean region. Participants considered six thematic areas of the revised Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD): seas and coasts; natural resources; rural development and food; climate; sustainable cities; transition towards a green economy; and governance.
The two-day conference took place from 17-18 February 2015, in Floriana, Malta, hosted by the Government of Malta in collaboration with the Coordination Unit of the Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) and Plan Bleu.
In opening remarks, Leo Brincat, Malta’s Minister for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change, observed that while summits can offer strategic direction, governments and the public need to “think, look and act beyond summits,” and that “connectivity with the general public” on sustainability efforts must be in place.
Parties adopted the MSSD in 1995. The current revision is undertaken in light of the outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), and current negotiations toward the post-2015 development agenda. The review process will continue with the submission of comments through to early March, when the draft will be further developed.
The reviewed MSSD is being prepared ahead of the June 2015 meeting of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development (MCSD) in Morocco, and will be submitted for adoption at the next meeting of Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP 19). COP 18 of the Barcelona Convention, which took place in December 2013, agreed to review the 2005 Strategy.
The Barcelona Convention aims to protect the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean. The Convention contains protocols and provisions covering: dumping from ships and aircraft; emergencies, including those caused by pollution from ships; land-based pollution sources and activities; specially protected areas and biodiversity; pollution from offshore exploration and exploitation; hazardous wastes; and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM).
Plan Bleu is an NGO specialising in observation, analysis and scenario-building in relation to marine and coastal environmental management in the Mediterranean. [UNEP Press Release] [Plan Bleu Webpage on Meeting] [UNEP Press Release on Barcelona COP 18]