The COVID-19 pandemic was already in full swing when two reports backed by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system brought new insights into the extent and impact of the triple crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean Coast Day is an initiative to promote the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as the optimal policy framework for achieving sustainable development of coastal areas, and the PAP/RAC, the Coastal Management Centre of UNEP/MAP, is the promoter of this action in the Mediterranean Region.
Clean air is important for the health and day-to-day lives of people, while air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health and one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally.
The diversity and productivity of the world's oceans is a vital interest for humankind.
Though the Mediterranean only covers 0.7% of the world’s ocean area it is one of the major reservoirs of marine and coastal biodiversity
It is a day upon which, for over forty years, people the world over have advocated and acted for a healthy environment.
This event, organized within the framework of the Geneva Environment Network, will present environmental and developmental challenges faced by the Mediterranean region. In the run-up to the 22nd meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) in December 2021, this event will also discuss the opportunity for the Contracting Parties to "flick the green switch” for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future in the basin.
