Considerable changes have occurred in the Mediterranean region, not least a disruptive COVID-19 pandemic that has caused suffering and destruction in its wake, with deep ramifications affecting both the environment and socio-economic systems. The pandemic has put hard-won gains in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in jeopardy. This was one of the central issues that the 19th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), the inclusive advisory body established under the Barcelona Convention (Article 4), pored over during three days (7-9 June 2021) of reflections and debate.
Hosted virtually by Slovenia, the meeting reviewed progress in the implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD), a region-specific blueprint for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs that the Contracting Parties adopted in December 2015. In his opening statement, H.E. Andrej Vizjak, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia, invited the MCSD to formulate clear proposals for a green renaissance in the Mediterranean.
“Flicking the green switch”—a metaphor for a decisive change of course towards sustainability—was frequently used during the meeting, which featured a roundtable on the sustainable blue economy as an enabler of a post-COVID green renaissance in the Mediterranean. Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), moderated the roundtable, which started with an acknowledgement of two major reports backed by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention System: the State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean (SoED) and the First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1) of the Network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change (MedECC).
The roundtable agreed that the findings of the reports (which had recently been presented to a global audience as part of a similar reflection co-organized by UNEP/MAP and the Geneva Environment Network) warrant a reengineering of socio-economic systems. Participants heard from Plan Bleu, the France-based UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre, that no sector can be singled out as the sole culprit for the triple environmental crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution) that is unfolding in the Mediterranean, as the MAR1 and SoED reports confirm. A resolute transformation is needed within and across all economic sectors to flick the green switch.
Despite the immensity of the challenges lying ahead, Members and Observers of the MCSD witnessed encouraging signals from across the basin as they reviewed the MSSD Flagship Initiatives and heard from partners on their work to entrench sustainability in Mediterranean economies and societies. It became clear that investment into the upscaling of pilots and successful experiences is critical to putting the green renaissance in motion. The role of financial institutions in catalysing investment in greener and more resilient pathways that decouple economic growth from environmental degradation was discussed. Action by and cooperation with parliamentarians were also at the heart of the MCSD discussions with proposals to foster environmental science-policy interfaces.
There was an agreement that the endeavor for a green renaissance will rely on new, pro-sustainability thinking that adequate advocacy, information, and outreach can foster. Tatjana Hema, Acting Coordinator of UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat, told MCSD members and Observers that “turning words into deeds will be crucial, and that policy forums, such as those offered by our partners in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and other MCSD Members, could facilitate a greater integration of the legal instruments and implementation tools offered by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system”.
During the meeting, several Contracting Parties reported concrete measures and progress achieved on the road to sustainability in the Mediterranean. As these bright spots of sustainability continue to expand in the region, it is crucial to ensure that the health of ecosystem remain at the center of the collective endeavor to build back better in the post-COVID era.
The MCSD meeting heard updates on conservation efforts in the Mediterranean from partners, including the institutions working with SPA/RAC, the Tunisia-based Regional Activity Centre of UNEP/MAP, on the post-2020 Strategic Action Programme for the Conservation of the Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean Region (SAP BIO) that the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention will consider in December 2021 as they meet at their COP 22 in Antalya, Turkey.
H.E. Andrej Vizjak’s opening call for a green renaissance was echoed by Kerstin Stendahl, Chief of the Ecosystem Integration Branch, UNEP Ecosystem Division, who said in her closing remarks that the reflections that she witnessed opened new possibilities for a region that the Mediterranean Action Plan-Barcelona Convention System, including the MCSD, has elevated to a model within the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.
The notion that a green renaissance in the Mediterranean is both crucial and feasible is one of the main highlights of the 19th Meeting of the MCSD, the first to take place after the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Mediterranean horizon. The MCSD resolved to convey this central message to the Contracting Parties at COP 22.
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Slovenia hosts the 19th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development
