News

Marine litter was the main focus of two meetings organized by the UN Environment/MAP – Barcelona Convention Secretariat in the framework of “Marine Litter Week” in Barcelona, Spain: The second meeting of the Regional Cooperation Platform on Marine Litter in the Mediterranean (9-10 November 2017), and the first steering committee meeting of the EU-funded Marine Litter MED project (10 November 2017).

A bilateral meeting between the Secretariats of the UN Environment/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, was held in Barcelona, Spain, on the 8th November 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to identify priority areas and opportunities for future collaboration between the Barcelona Convention and the Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centers particularly in relation to marine litter, plastics and microplastics, and the environmentally sound management of plastic wastes.

The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) 10th annual conference was held in Beirut, Lebanon, on 2-3 November 2017. The conference was opened with the launch of the new report entitled “Arab Environment in 10 years”, presented by Najib Saab, Secretary General of AFED. The report, which is the tenth in a series on the State of Arab Environment, tracks changes in environment in Arab countries over the last decade, using AFED’s 2008 report as a baseline for comparison and proposing an alternative path for the future.

The United Nations and Greek flags flew along-side each other on the Acropolis of Athens today, in honour of United Nations Day celebrated every year on 24 October. Representatives of the United Nations offices based in Greece as well as of the Greek state, gathered to watch the flag raising ceremony by the Presidential Guard Evzones.

The oil tanker “AGIA ZONI II” CS: SVAD4 - Greek flag – IMO No: 7126152 sank off Piraeus, Greece, on 10 September 2017, with 2.195 M/T fuel oil, 340 M/T marine gas oil as cargo, 15 M/T marine gas oil as bunkers and 300 L lubricants on board. Further to the request for assistance published by the Hellenic Coast Guard on the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) and the acceptance of REMPEC’s offer, two (2) experts have been mobilised for a mission in Athens, Greece, from 8 to 14 October 2017, in the framework of the Mediterranean Assistance Unit (MAU).

The first regional meeting on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), organized in the framework of the SIMWESTMED Project by the Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC), was held in Hyères, France on 5 October. With the aim of facilitating the exchange of experiences, and identifying opportunities for cooperation on MSP implementation in the Western Mediterranean region, the meeting brought together the project partners as well as key national and regional actors involved in the implementation of ICZM and the application of MSP in the region.

The main event for the celebration of the 2017 Mediterranean Coast Day, themed “Protect our Sea” was held on September 25 in Tivat, Montenegro, gathering 150 participants, representatives of several Mediterranean countries, and institutions and other components of the Montenegrin civil society.

The Meeting on the Sub-Regional Pilot Study for the Eastern Mediterranean on Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) in Relation to Fisheries took place in Athens, Greece, on 20-21 September 2017.

The meeting of the Focal Points of the Mediterranean Action Plan took place in Athens, Greece on 12-15 September 2017. The main objectives of the meeting were to review the progress of activities carried out in the framework of the MAP, during the 2016-2017 biennium and the draft decisions to be submitted to the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention for subsequent adoption during their 20th Ordinary Meeting (Tirana, Albania, 17-20 December 2017), including the Programme of Work and Budget for the 2018-2019 biennium.

[Announcement by the Italian Research Council-CNR] Following the conclusion of the Project LIFE13 ENV/IT/001069 – Mermaids: “Mitigation of microplastics impact caused by textile washing processes”, the Organizing and Scientific Committees are pleased to invite the scientific community and stakeholders to the “International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea” (μ MED) hosted in Capri (NA), Italy, on September 26-29th 2017.

The article highlights the role of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) in the preparation of worst-case scenario simulations related to a potential oil-spill event which ocurred in Libya, in March 2017. Click here to read the article: http://copernicus.eu/news/copernicus-assists-monitoring-risks-and-planni... For more information on REMPEC, please visit http://rempec.org

The Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) will hold its 17th meeting on 4-6 July 2017, in Athens, Greece. In its capacity of advisory body to the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, the MCSD will address and provide substantial contribution to the Contracting Parties to assist them in their efforts to integrate environmental issues, sustainability considerations, and global processes in their socioeconomic programmes, such as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Adopted under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UN Environment in collaboration with Think Beyond Plastic™ invites university students from all over the globe to take part in the 2017 Marine Plastic Innovation Challenge. The challenge, which is the first of its kind, seeks to highlight solution-oriented engineering, research and communication efforts that can help solve the global marine litter problem. The innovation challenge is organized around the following four tracks:

UN Environment/MAP activities featured very high at the 2017 G7 Environment Ministers' meeting held in Bologna on 11-12 June 2017, under the auspices of the Italian G7 Presidency. Mr. Gaetano Leone, Coordinator of UN Environment/MAP, delivered the key-note address to the Ministers on the agenda item on "Marine Litter" and provided the closing remarks at the end of the discussion

Approximately 4,000 delegates attended the five-day UN Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, convened in New York from 5 to 9 June 2017. The reversal of the decline of the ocean’s health will begin thanks to a set of measures that have been unanimously agreed  by the 193 Member States of the United Nations. 

The protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue, which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world. The annual celebration of World Environment Day on 5 June provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in preserving and enhancing the environment. Since its designation in 1974, World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated all over the world.

(Tunis) The collaborative international project will develop a platform that will integrate existing data with information generated by coastal observations, new and existing sensors at sea, oceanographic models and mobile apps. The European Union (EU) has awarded the international ODYSSEA consortium €8.4 million to develop an interoperable and cost-effective platform that fully integrates networks of observation and forecasting systems across the Mediterranean basin.

The Meeting of the Focal Points of the Mediterranean Pollution Assessment and Control Programme (MED POL) was held on 29-31 May 2017, at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters, Rome, Italy.

May 7th 2017 was a sunny hot day in Athens. 9:15 in the morning UN Environment/MAP staff gather outside the metro station. Destination: Freattyda beach in Piraeus, Greece, to participate to the MedSOS Cleanup campaign "Don't let plastics become part of the sea", held under the auspices of UN Environment/MAP.  Enthusiastic and motivated groups of volunteers of all ages took part to the campaign. Upon arrival, they were handed big bags, gloves and sheets to record the different types of marine litter collected.

Marine litter has been globally recognized as one of the major threats not only to marine ecosystems but also to their sustainable growth. The Mediterranean area is considered as one of the most affected by marine litter in the world with its plastic concentrations found floating to be comparable with those reported for the five oceanic garbage patches.

A ministerial delegation headed by H.E. Mr. Davor Ivo Stier, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Mr. Ditmir Bushati, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, and H.E. Mr. Mr. Srđan Darmanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, visited the premises of the Priority Action Programme Regional Activity Centre of the UN Environment/MAP on 10 February 2017 in Split.

The Steering Committee of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) held its 18th meeting on 18 and 19 January 2017 in Athens, Greece.

Under the main theme of "Caring for our Coasts - Mediterranean and Italian Experiences", the Coastal Area Management Program for Italy (CAMP Italy) held its final conference on Tuesday 17 January 2017 in Rome, in the presence of Mrs Maria Carmela Giarratano, General Director of the Ministry of the Environment, Land, and Sea Protection of Italy, and Mr. Gaetano Leone, Coordinator of the UN environment / Mediterranean Action Plan, Secretariat to the Barcelona Convention.

Egypt has started packing PCB-contaminated equipment in Cairo and Alexandria to ship them  to Spain for elimination. At the end of this process, it is expected that Egypt would have disposed of 200 tons of PCBs. This is the last activity within the framework of the MedPartnership project, led by UNEP/MAP and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It was implemented by the MAP MED POL programme in collaboration with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA).

Algeria has ratified the "Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Preventing Pollution from Ships and, In Cases of Emergency, Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea" (Prevention and Emergency Protocol). The country deposited the instrument of Ratification on 14 November 2016, as confirmed by the Government of Spain, Depositary of the Barcelona Convention.