The UNECE Ninth Environment for Europe (EfE) Ministerial Conference will be held in Nicosia, Cyprus, from 5-7 October 2022. This is the first time that the event takes place in a Mediterranean country. The conference will be preceded by the Special Session of the Committee on Environmental Policy (3-4 October 2022) and the Special Session of the Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development (4 October 2022). The third High-level Meeting of Education and Environment Ministries will take place in the immediate aftermath of the 9th EfE Ministerial Conference.
The EfE process was launched in 1991 to support efforts by UNECE Member States to advance environmental governance. Among the UNECE Member States fourteen are Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention). Twelve Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention are also Parties to the UNECE-Aarhus Convention.
UNEP/MAP has joined forces with the UNEP Regional Office for Europe to support the UNECE Secretariat in organizing the 9th EfE Ministerial Conference, reflecting common priorities and a long-standing partnership to underpin regional efforts for sustainable development in the Mediterranean. This year the thematic focus of the Conference is two-fold:
- Greening the economy in the pan-European region: working towards sustainable infrastructure;
- Applying circular economy principles to sustainable tourism.
Both themes are relevant to the pillars of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) adopted within the framework of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system.
Spotlighting Mediterranean priorities at the EfE Ministerial Conference
The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) will take part in the conference to advocate for swifter action on the implementation of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols as the shortest path to securing a resilient and sustainable future in the Mediterranean region.
UNEP/MAP will join forces with MAP Partners attending the EfE Ministerial Conference to convey the voice of the Mediterranean, the world’s leading tourist destination, as it faces the increasingly acute impacts of the global triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
UNEP/MAP activities and events at the EfE Ministerial Conference in Nicosia
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[Side event]
Tourism and circularity for sustainable development in the Mediterranean
A side event organized by UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention Secretariat and Plan Bleu/Regional Activity Centre.
Date: 5 October 2022
Time: 18:15 - 20:15
Venue: Cyprus Institute, Room 5a / Fresnel
This side event will offer a platform for reflection on sustainable tourism. The sector has significantly contributed to the region’s economic development, but unsustainable practices have taken a toll on marine and coastal ecosystems. Plan Bleu, a UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre, will present the findings of its publications on this topic (including the State of Play of tourism in the Mediterranean and the Catalogue of Best practices on sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean), as well as the impacts of field activities, including in the context of the Interreg Med Sustainable Tourism Community.
To organize this side event UNEP/MAP has joined forces with the Ministry of Tourism of the Hellenic Republic, the One Planet Network – Sustainable Tourism Programme (UNEP and UN-WTO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Inter-Mediterranean Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), IDDRI, Eco Union, the Balearic Islands Tourist Strategy Agency and Garden Hotels Group.
Learn more: Agenda
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[Official meeting]
UNEP/MAP participation in the third High Level Event of Education and Environment Ministers on the Mediterranean Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development and its Action Plan towards 2030
Date: 6 October 2022
Time: 15:30-19:15
Venue: Filoxenia Conference Centre
Taking part in the third High-level Meeting of Education and Environment Ministries, which will be held during the conference in Nicosia, and as a Member of the Mediterranean Committee on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), UNEP/MAP will underscore the importance of progress in the implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy on ESD and its 2030 Action Plan as a component of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD).
MIO-ECSDE, a MAP Partner, was instrumental in the development of the Mediterranean Strategy and Action Plan on ESD and continues to support the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Education Initiative for Environment and Sustainability (MEdIES).
Learn more: Concept note - Agenda
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[Side event]
Environmental governance for transforming our planet – Promoting the Aarhus Convention in the whole of the Mediterranean region
Date: 7 October 2022
Time: 13:10 - 14:40
Venue: KERYNEIA room – Filoxenia
This side event is organized by the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) jointly with MIO-ECSDE. It will host a collective reflection to which UNEP/MAP will contribute alongside the House of Representatives of Cyprus, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), the Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN – a MAP Partner), the UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
Learn more: Agenda
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[Side event]
Marine litter and marine plastic pollution, a major environmental and tourism problem: monitoring and participatory science
Date: 7 October 2022
Time: 13:45-15:15
Venue: Jean Monnet building (Filoxenia)
UNEP/MAP will present the latest developments and pilots to support harmonized monitoring in the Mediterranean region in the context of the updated Regional Plan on Maine Litter. The side event’s co-organizers are the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy, UfM and HELMEPA.
Learn more: Agenda
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[Side event]
Ocean Literacy in the Mediterranean
Date: 7 October 2022
Time: 08:15 - 09:45
Venue: Keryneia – Filoxenia Conference Centre
UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice Office) is organizing this side-event jointly with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports of Cyprus, the Pedagogic Institute of Cyprus, the Unit for Education for the Environment and Sustainable Development (EESD), and MIO-ECSDE / MEdIES.
This side event will discuss the ocean literacy practices, opportunities and challenges in the Mediterranean. It will serve as an opening session to the “2022 Hybrid University on Biosphere Reserves as sites to develop ocean literacy”, which will take place in Cyprus immediately after the EfE Conference (8-10 October).
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