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Members of parliaments play a pivotal role in transposing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) into enforceable national law. The freshly published "Parliamentarian’s guide to protecting the Mediterranean Sea and coast" is aimed at members of parliament serving in the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the protection of the marine environment and the coastal region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), namely 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union.

Portoroz, 8 December 2023—The 23rd Meeting (COP23) of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, which took place on 5-8 December 2023 in Portoroz (Slovenia), adopted important steps to protect ecosystems in the face of the rising impacts of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Under the auspices of H.E.

Portoroz, 7 December 2023 —The Mediterranean coastal city of Genoa (Italy) is the winner of the fourth edition (2023) of the Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award. Mr.

The 23rd Meeting (COP 23) of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols will take place from 5-8 December 2023 in Portoroz, Slovenia. The overarching goal is to enhance the protection of the Mediterranean region’s marine and coastal environment in the context of sustainable development. 

Funded by the European Union, the regional IMAP-MPA project concluded in August 2023 after 48 months of activities aimed at “Achieving the Good Environmental Status of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast through an Ecologically Representative, Efficiently Managed and Monitored Network of Marine Protected Areas”.

Ms. Fatma Varank, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of Türkiye, and President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, opened the 2023 meeting of the Focal Points of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), which took place on 12-15 September in Istanbul (Türkiye).

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organic compounds that used to be produced worldwide but are now banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), a global treaty aiming to eliminate or restrict the production, use and trade of chemicals that are recognized as persistent, bio-accumulative and harmful to human and environmental health.

Mediterranean Coast Day (25 September) is an annual observance introduced by the Mediterranean Action Plan of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP).

The Plan of Action for a Model Mediterranean Sea by 2030 (PAMEx) and its Local Investment Finance Facility (PLIFF) held their second Steering Committee meeting online on 18 July 2023.

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At INC-2 in Paris, as negotiators were poring

20th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) 14-16 June 2023, Marseille, France (Update: read the press release)  

The Strategic Action Programme for the conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Mediterranean Region, referred to in the relevant decisions of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity (SPA/BD) Protocol as “The Post-2020 SAPBIO”, is the Mediterranean region’s blueprint for the protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity.

The deadline for application for the fourth edition of the Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award (2022-2023) has been extended to 30 June 2023. This is your chance to put your Mediterranean city on the map and earn recognition for achievements in the field of urban sustainability.

On 14-16 March 2023 representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Montenegro and Tunisia—participating countries in the GEF-UNEP MedProgramme— met in Sarajevo with the institutions supporting implementation to review progress on two (out of eight) Child Projects (CP):  CP 1.1 (“Reducing pollution from harmful chemicals and wastes in the Mediterranean hotspots and measuring progress to impacts”) and CP 4.1 (“Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem

“Fast fashion”, whereby linear (take-make-use-dispose) supply chains churn out garments modelled on the latest trends, has exacted a heavy toll on natural resources. According to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, a truckload of abandoned textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every second. Meanwhile, it is estimated that people are buying 60 per cent more clothes and wearing them for half as long.

Photo: Fisherwomen building traditional fishing gear, Al Hoceima, Morocco.

The Plan of Action for a Model Mediterranean Sea by 2030 (PAMEx) will hold its first Steering Committee meeting on 24-25 January 2023 in Athens, Greece. Partners will follow up on the implementation of the 20 concrete actions that PAMEx encompasses.

On 15 December 2022 the 79th session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 79) adopted the Mediterranean Sea Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides and Particulate Matter (Med SOx ECA), with effect from 1 May 2025, to further limit air pollution from ships, pursuant to Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

Adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Mediterranean Sea Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides and Particulate Matter (Med SOx ECA) is set to come into effect on 1 May 2025. The adoption by IMO is the upshot of a successful multilateral process stewarded by the Mediterranean Action Plan of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP), which saw the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention forge consensus and submit a coordinated proposal to the UN specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of m

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) will contribute to advocacy efforts on the sidelines of the crucial negotiations at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) taking place from 7-19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada.

The PAMEx Local Investment Finance Facility (PLIFF) officially launched on 6 December 2022 following the official signing of its founding charter at the Forum Méditerranée du Futur held in Marseille, France. PLIFF is a financial mechanism created under the umbrella of the initiative titled “PAMEx: The Mediterranean: a model sea by 2030“.

Tunisia recently ratified the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Protocol, almost 14 years after its adoption in Madrid, Spain. By virtue of Decree No 2022-917 dated 29 November 2022, which appeared in the Journal officiel de la Republique tunisienne, Tunisia has given its formal consent to be bound by the provisions of this legal instrument.

In addition to hosting critical natural habitats, Mediterranean coastal zones underpin crucial blue economy activities. As biologically active interfaces where complex land-sea interactions are at play, the coasts are hotspots of climate change vulnerability.