The mandate of the Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean (MED POL) includes the main sources of pollution affecting the Mediterranean. MED POL assists Contracting Parties in the implementation of three major protocols of the Barcelona Convention pertaining to Land-Based Sources (LBS), dumping from ships and aircraft and hazardous wastes and their disposal.
MED POL also undertakes assessments of the status and trends of pollution, including marine litter, with a view to achieving Good Environmental Status (GES).
One of the largest amounts of floating litter—reaching 64 million items/ km2 –was recorded in the Mediterranean. As we mark World Ocean Day under exceptional circumstances related to COVID-19, reports of surgical masks, plastic gloves and other types of personal protective equipment ending up in the Mediterranean Sea are emerging. In the Naples Ministerial Declaration, the Contracting Parties decided to scale up efforts by empowering the regulatory framework for reducing single-use plastic products, setting ambitious quantitative targets, and incorporating reduction measures including on microplastics.
MED POL will contribute to UNEP/MAP efforts for a green renaissance in the Mediterranean in the post COVID-19 era.
Increasing general public awareness of the importance of preserving Oceans is the main goal of the Digital Campaign developed by INFO/RAC, as the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre on Communication and Information to support the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention.
Our task is to bring together the expertise and competence of the UNEP/MAP— Barcelona Convention System in order to develop messages on this theme through education and tools for raising awareness. The UNEP/MAP System raises its voice as ONE to invite you to participate actively to secure Oceans health.
For many years we have been working to preserve and protect our Mediterranean Sea and its coastal region looking at the interactions between land and sea to understand and manage better.
I take this opportunity to remind you of two important words for sea and coast health: Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).
On behalf of the PAP/RAC team, I wish you all a happy Oceans Day!
And join us for the Coast Day in September 2020.
Plan Bleu, UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan Regional Activity Center, is glad to celebrate the United Nations World Oceans Day. In a few weeks, Plan Bleu will publish the newest State of the Environment and Development Report in the Mediterranean, 10 years after the last edition. This assessment report, prepared with all MAP components and more than 100 Mediterranean institutions and experts, will underline that despite significant efforts, the degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems continues. Documenting development trends and their reciprocal interactions with the marine and coastal environment is at the heart of Plan Bleu’s mission. 2020 also marks a new phase in the preparation of the participatory foresight for the Mediterranean at Horizon 2050, led by Plan Bleu. A wide range of Mediterranean stakeholders are mobilized to share their knowledge, vision and aspiration for the Mediterranean Future. Practitioners, innovators, funders, etc. will also bring key expertise to identify concrete transition pathways towards a more sustainable and inclusive future in the Mediterranean region. This in-depth analysis of trends, breakthrough, visions and transitions will build on the First Assessment Report on the current state and risks of climate and environmental changes in the Mediterranean, to be published in 2020 by the network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change, hosted by Plan Bleu. The current COVID-19 crisis will also impact the region in the short, medium and long term. Assessing these impacts – in association with Mediterranean stakeholders and scientists – is part of Plan Bleu’s mandate. Two recent publications draw steps in this regards.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the busiest seas in the world, harvesting 20% of seaborne trade and over 200 million passengers. As maritime traffic is steadily increasing it adds environmental pressure such as rising emissions, oil and chemical pollution, marine litter, and introduction of non-indigenous species. REMPEC, the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea, a component of the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) and with the support of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), assists, since 1976, all Mediterranean coastal States in addressing these pressures at regional and national level. In the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, comes in mind, REMPEC’s support to achieve a Mediterranean goal to reduce Sulphur Oxides emissions from ships, contributing to human health and respiratory diseases by avoiding 1,000 premature deaths and more than 2,000 cases of childhood asthmas.”
The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC), a component of UNEP/MAP, is a centre for international cooperation with Mediterranean countries on development and innovation in the production sector and civil society, based on more sustainable consumption and production models. Today, more than ever, we need to build back better by switching to more sustainable consumption and production patterns and circular economy. The problem must be tackled at its source: we need to adapt human activities to the carrying capacity of our earth and our oceans. We need to innovate in the way we consume and produce goods. The challenges for the oceans continue to grow, so does the green initiatives and the amazing change makers ready to drive them. They can be individuals, start-ups, SMEs, BSO, CSOs, policy makers, action is needed at all levels. In this important day, SCP/RAC commits to continue giving a voice and supporting these inspiring changemakers. We believe that they will help us to protect our oceans and seas.
Do you want to be one of them?
The sanitary crisis has shown us how urgent and vital it is to maintain life in the sea to sustain our human lives.
As the marine biodiversity Centre of UNEP/MAP, SPA/RAC is supporting the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in delivering concrete solutions to enhance Mediterranean Sea conservation, such as:
Our solutions are in nature, so let us protect nature and give it the chance to protect us!