Several participants in the "Mediterranean 2030" workshop—which took place on 9 February 2022 in Brest, in the context of the One Ocean Summit—paid tribute to the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system’s role in facilitating multilateral action for healthy marine and coastal ecosystems and sustainable development in the Mediterranean region.
The opening session included high-level interventions by Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State for Biodiversity of France, Hugo Moran, Secretary of State for the Environment of Spain, and Vassilios Demetriades, Shipping Deputy Minister to the President of Cyprus.
The speakers unanimously applauded the landmark decision on the designation of the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an Emission Control Area for Sulfur Oxides (Med Sox ECA), adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP 22 Antalya, Turkey, 7-10 December 2021). Mr. Demetriades called on the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention to initiate work for the designation of a complementary Emission Control Area for Nitrogen Oxides.
Mr. Moran applauded the role that the Mediterranean Action Plan-Barcelona Convention system “has played since its inception and continues to play today” in tackling pollution in all its forms, pointing to the wide spectrum of themes addressed by the Protocols to the Barcelona Convention.
Recalling recent initiatives such as the Action Plan for an Exemplary Mediterranean by 2030 (PAMEx), in the context of which UNEP/MAP is playing an important role of regional coordination, Ms. Abba spoke of efforts by France and other Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, namely Italy and Spain, in reducing risks of collisions between vessels and cetacean mammals.
Posidonia oceanica
The workshop agreed on the need for a new push to protect Posidonia oceanica, the vital seagrass species that generates oxygen, stores carbon, and acts as a habitat for marine fauna.
Pierre Dubreuil, Director of the French Office for Biodiversity, announced the French initiative for the protection of Posidonia Meadows, and spoke about the work of the Mediterranean Posidonia Network (MPN). He also stressed the importance of implementing the Action Plan for the conservation of marine vegetation, adopted within the framework of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system, and of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and related Directives.
Giuseppe Di Carlo, Director of WWF Mediterranean, announced a ten-million-euro new initiative on blue carbon, which will protect seaweed as an important carbon sink.
An exceptional COP 22 in Antalya
In her opening presentation, the UNEP/MAP Coordinator Tatjana Hema, who co-chaired the workshop alongside the UfM Secretary-General Nasser Kamel, highlighted what she described as a package of decisions that will contribute to putting the region on the path to sustainability and resilience. In addition to Med Sox ECA, COP 22 adopted a set of measures for the protection of the marine and coastal environment.
Notwithstanding difficulties imposed by the COVID-19, COP 22 Antalya delivered consensus on the UNEP/MAP Medium-Term Strategy for 2022-2027, which Hugo Moran, Secretary of State for the Environment of Spain, considered as a contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mediterranean region.
Biodiversity protection within and beyond MPAs
More than 90 per cent of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) occur in the northern part of the basin. The overwhelming majority of MPAs lack adequate human resources and financial means. UNEP/MAP continues to work with MedPAN and other partners, including the Albert II of Monaco Foundation, to address these shortcomings that hobble nature conservation efforts.
At COP 22 of the Barcelona Convention system, the Contracting Parties adopted the Post-2020 Strategic Action Programme for the Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Mediterranean Region (Post-2020 SAPBIO), and the Post-2020 Regional Strategy for protecting and conserving the Mediterranean through well connected and effective systems of marine and coastal protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.
Ongoing endeavors, including financing, capacity-building and networking, were highlighted in the interventions of Bernard Fautrier, Chair of MedFund and BeMed and Special Advisor of HSH The Sovereign Prince of the Principality of Monaco, and of Purificacio Canals, President of the Mediterranean Network of MPA Managers (MedPAN).
Guillaume Sainteny, the President of Plan Bleu, called for strengthened conservation within and beyond MPAs, noting that most pressures on the environment and associated degradation phenomena occur outside protected areas. He also highlighted the need to close knowledge gaps (dark habitats are a case in point), including by a conducting a comprehensive mapping of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin.
Curbing pollution and addressing the plastic scourge
Patrick Child, Deputy Director-General of DG Environment at the European Commission, highlighted legislation efforts for a pollution-free Mediterranean, noting progress on EU-wide specific, measurable and time-bound objectives on marine litter. Mr. Child also underscored the importance of reaching agreement on a global treaty on plastic pollution at the forthcoming session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2).
By adopting the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean in 2013, the Mediterranean became the first regional sea endowed with legally binding measures, programmes, and related implementation timetables on curbing this brand of pollution.
Gabino Gonzalez, REMPEC Director, presented the Mediterranean Strategy for the Prevention of, Preparedness, and Response to Marine Pollution from Ships (2022-2031), recently adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention at COP 22. Ms. Hema described it as “the region’s flagship response to prevent sea-based pollution”.
Progress towards sustainable fisheries
Charlina Vitcheva, Director-General at the European Commission for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), expressed commitment to overcome challenges to secure sustainable fisheries. “We need it, it is possible, and we are doing it,” she remarked. Ms. Vitcheva underscored the importance of evidence-based policymaking and welcomed progress achieved under the auspices of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). Miguel Bernal, Senior Fishery Officer, presented the GFCM 2030 strategy on fisheries and ecosystems. The strategy, Mr. Bernal explained, provides for robust fisheries management plans in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The aim is to reduce negative impacts on vulnerable species, including by addressing by-catch.
Clear signals of progress
“What emerges from this session is the shared passion that the family of Mediterranean organizations has,” Mr. Di Carlo of WWF Mediterranean observed, commending the progress achieved over the last twenty years.
Mr. Kamel, Secretary-General of UfM, closed the session, drawing on the main points raised during the discussion.
