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. The meeting reviewed progress in the implementation of the 20 concrete actions that PAMEx encompasses.
PAMEx stems from an initiative launched at the 2021 edition of the IUCN World Conservation Congress. It is a coalition of partners including 11 Mediterranean countries and four organizations. The Coordinating Unit of the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) hosts the technical secretariat of PAMEx, reflecting a firm anchoring in the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols.
Participants in the Steering Committee meeting noted progress on two fronts:
- Commitment is gathering momentum
The PAMEx Declaration on Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, which the Steering Committee endorsed, epitomizes the rising momentum that PAMEx is inducing in support of the integrated implementation of global and regional environmental treaties. The Declaration calls on the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention to implement “effectively and in a synergetic manner” the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework with a focus on Target 3 pertaining to the effective conservation and management of 30 per cent of marine and coastal areas by 2030. PAMEx partners went a step further by committing to placing 10 per cent of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean region under strict protection.
The Declaration also recognizes that efforts in this field will benefit from the effective implementation of the Post-2020 Strategic Action Programme for the Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Mediterranean Region, adopted by the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 22, Antalya, Türkiye).
At the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-2) , PAMEx partners adopted a Common Position in support of an ambitious treaty that considers the Mediterranean experience in tackling plastic pollution. That Common Position will continue to evolve as the partners gear up for strong engagement at INC-3, which will see the presentation of the draft zero of the treaty.
Other priority areas where PAMEx is catalyzing coordinated action are wastewater treatment and re-use—the focus of the “Declaration of Bonifacio” issued in June 2023—and the ratification of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
- Pooled investment is fostering greater coordination
PAMEx partners have agreed to formulate concrete proposals to be submitted to the PAMEx Local Investment Finance Facility (PLIFF). Such proposals will include support for nature-based solutions for conservation, restoration and the sustainable use of natural resources (at the regional, national and local levels) with an initial investment of USD 1.5 million. Other proposals pertain to the upgrade of wastewater treatment plants and the construction of new ones, combating illicit waste discharges, enhancing marine litter collection, and the promotion of circular economy approaches to prevent plastic waste generation.
PLIFF is pooling resources to support an accelerated push for a sustainable blue economy in the Mediterranean, notably through the greening of Mediterranean ports and the development of renewable energy sources for electrification and the use of green hydrogen. An initial investment of USD 75 million has been secured for greener Mediterranean ports.
In the pursuit of greater impact through cooperation, PAMEx partners are considering collaboration with existing initiatives, including the Blue Mediterranean Partnership, and the project titled “Support to Green and Circular Economy in the Southern Neighborhood”, implemented by Expertise France and funded by the European Union. Similar collaborations with the MedFund, MedPAN, and the Mediterranean Posidonia Network are fostering coordination on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration.
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