• Overview

When: 8 April 2021; 9:30 - 11:00 CEST

Where: Online; register here

What:  Two recent reports sponsored by the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan – Barcelona Convention (UNEP/MAP) system — the State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean, produced by Plan Bleu, and the First Mediterranean Assessment Report released by the network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change (MedECC) — shed new light on the hefty toll that the global triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is taking on Mediterranean ecosystems.

According to the ‘twin reports’, the Mediterranean region is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, confirming the urgency of a green renaissance in the post-COVID era. But a recent analysis of spending by the world’s leading economies, led by the University of Oxford and UNEP, concluded that only 18% of announced recovery spending can be considered green.

The panel discussion, which includes a Q&A session, will offer insights into the levers of transformative change that decision-makers can use to make peace with nature in the Mediterranean. As it prepares for the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 22) (December 2021, Antalya, Türkiye), UNEP/MAP will present examples of its work on setting the green renaissance in motion.

Speakers:

  • Gaetano LEONE, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat
  • H.E. Amb. Sadık ARSLAN, Permanent Representative of Türkiye to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland
  • Lina TODE, Foresight studies and Environmental economics, Plan Bleu
  • Lourdes LAZARO, Corporate Department, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation
  • Lefteris ARAPAKIS, UNEP Young Champion of the Earth (Europe Winner)
  • Bruno POZZI, Director, Europe Oce, UNEP (moderator)