COP 22 LOGO AND HASHTAG UNVEILED DURING A PREPARATORY MEETING IN ANTALYA
On 28-30 September 2021 Turkey, the Host Country of the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, hosted the COP 22 preparatory meeting in the Mediterranean city of Antalya.
COP 22 will mark 45 years of seamless environmental multilateralism and regional solidarity under the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols amid calls to build back greener. “Taking place two months after the IUCN World Conservation Congress and shortly after the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, COP 22 will be as the "COP for the Mediterranean” said Ms. Tatjana Hema, the Coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme / Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP). The Deputy Minister of Environment and Urbanization of Turkey, Professor Mehmet Emin Birpinar, stated that “COP 22 will be a special meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, given the importance of the decisions that will be examined, and which have the potential to mark a turning point for the region, especially after COVID”.
In a ceremony held during the preparatory meeting, the Host Country unveiled the COP 22 logo and hashtag [#COP22Med]. The COP 22 logo features a pictogram representing the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta, an iconic symbol of biological diversity in the Mediterranean—a regional sea that represents barely 1 per cent of the global ocean but is home to 10 per cent of known marine species.
Mediterranean loggerhead turtles are affected by marine litter and warming air and seawater. Their plight encapsulates the stark threats observed in the region by the triple crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. The loggerhead turtle is also a powerful symbol of hope: available data show a positive trend of nest counts for the species whose population abundance in the region is estimated to be 1,197,087 – 2,364,843 individuals. This emblematic loggerhead turtle can be found throughout the basin, but nesting is concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean, including in sites located in Antalya, the host city of COP 22.
“I thank the Host Country for this beautiful inspiring logo that is so meaningful for the region and for commitment to the work that the United Nations Environment Programme’s Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) is delivering,” said Ms. Hema.