20th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of th...

The 20th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols was convened from 17 to 20 December 2017, in Tirana, Ablania, hosted by the Govermnent of Albania.

The meeting discussed the progress achieved in the implementation of the programme of work for the 2016-2017 biennium and discussed policy issues on activities to enhance environmental protection and sustainable development in the Mediterranean. The main theme of the meeting was the “Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with focus on Sustainable Development Goal 14: Pollution and Biodiversity”. This was also the topic of discussion during the high-level session held on 19 December, which lead to the adoption of the Tirana Ministerial Declaration

The following Decisions were adopted by the Contracting Parties at their 20th Ordinary Meeting:

• Decision IG.23/1 - Revised reporting format for the implementation of the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and its Protocols
• Decision IG.23/2 - Compliance Committee: biennium 2016–2017
• Decision IG.23/3 – Governance
• Decision IG.23/4 - Implementation and monitoring of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016–2025 and of the Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Mediterranean
• Decision IG.23/5 - Updated Resource Mobilization Strategy
• Decision IG.23/6 - 2017 MediterraneanQuality Status Report
• Decision IG.23/7 - Implementation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Protocol: Annotated Structure of the Common Regional Framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Conceptual Framework for Marine Spatial Planning
• Decision IG.23/8 - Updated Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine and Coastal Bird Species listed in annex II to the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean
• Decision IG.23/9 - Identification and Conservation of Sites of Particular Ecological Interest in the Mediterranean, including Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance
• Decision IG.23/10 - Amendments to annex II to the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean
• Decision IG.23/11 - Mediterranean Guide on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Responding to Marine Pollution Incidents
• Decision IG.23/12 - Updated Guidelines on Management of Dredged Materials
• Decision IG.23/13 - Updated guidelines on the management of desalination activities
• Decision IG.23/14 - Programme of work and budget for 2018–2019

COP20 Meeting Documents are available for downloading in the MAP meeting documents repository.

Click here for the fnal report