On 14 December 2020, a mere 48 hours after the Climate Ambition Summit, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) organized an online encounter with its members and with lawmakers from across the region. Titled “Supporting the Science-Policy Interface for a green renaissance in the Mediterranean", the meeting provided participating parliamentarians with insights into climate and environmental change and interactions with development in the basin.
The UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat supported the event as part of efforts to bolster Science-Policy Interface in line with the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development.
Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, PAM Secretary General, welcomed the cooperation with the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat on strengthening the Science-Policy Interface which Mr. Alain Perea, the PAM Vice-President and Rapporteur on the Environment, described as “essential to deflect current trajectories” of environmental degradation in the Mediterranean.
The findings of two recently released assessment reports prepared in the context of the Barcelona Convention — the “State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean (SoED)” and the “First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1)”, by Messrs. Francois Guerquin (Director, Plan Bleu) and Joel Guiot (Coordinator, MedECC), respectively —were presented and discussed with the audience.
Mr. Daniele Violetti (Director of Means of Implementation, UNFCCC) presented the outcomes of the Climate Ambition Summit. The United Nations, United Kingdom and France co-hosted the summit, in partnership with Chile and Italy, which currently assumes the presidency of the Barcelona Convention.
Marking five years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement and happening less than a year before the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the summit saw renewed commitment in reducing emissions with many countries coming forward with strengthened Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
NDCs under the UNFCCC constitute, alongside stimulus packages and other investment plans launched by Mediterranean countries in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, an opportunity to invest into a more sustainable and resilient future. For such investments to achieve the outcome sought, they need to be grounded in a solid evidence base that only a robust Science-Policy Interface can deliver.
“Achieving a green renaissance begins with a strong foundational network of policymakers and scientists working together to identify measures that are both impactful and feasible. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is committed to the development of these synergies, providing platforms for mutual engagement between parliamentarians and strategic partners, including the organizations that supported this event,” said Pedro Roque, Vice-President of PAM and President of the Second Standing Committee: Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation.
The meeting agreed that pro-sustainability, science-based policy to recover from COVID-19 can bring about a green renaissance in the Mediterranean.
“Despite the doom and gloom of this moment, we stand a chance to see a new policy doctrine that protects ecosystems while delivering on the promise that the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development has brought to the peoples of the Mediterranean and the world,” Gaetano Leone, UNEP/MAP Coordinator, said.
“Here in the Mediterranean, the science has spoken. A bold transformation is needed to reengineer our relationship with the natural resources of our basin,” Mr. Leone added.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Secretary-General warned in a landmark speech on the state of the planet that “making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st Century”.
The United Nations Environment Programme’s annual emission gap report released last week reveals that, despite a dip in CO2 emissions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3°C this century.
But the same report says that a low-carbon recovery from the pandemic could cut 25% off the emissions we expect to see in 2030.
“Let’s face it: greater compliance with and enforcement of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols are our best chance to rescue the Mediterranean Sea and its coastal region from their predicament,” Mr. Leone said, noting that regional organizations and policy forums could facilitate a greater integration of the legal instruments and implementation tools offered by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system, avoiding at the same time, ineffective duplications and unnecessary institutional overlaps.
“I believe that this event and our broader cooperation with PAM illustrates the spirit of complementarity and cooperation that we need in this region. Because in Mare Nostrum we are all in this together,” Mr. Leone concluded.
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