Decisions to submit for COP21 from REMPEC

With the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploitation activities in the Mediterranean and the increasing interest from a number of Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, it is crucial to ensure that offshore activities are properly regulated so that their development does not come at the cost of the marine and coastal environment.

To this effect, the Mediterranean Offshore Action Plan adopted by the Contracting Parties in 2016 defines measures which, if applied at regional level and by each Mediterranean coastal State within their jurisdiction, will ensure the safety of offshore activities and reduce their potential impact on the marine environment and its ecosystem. The Mediterranean Offshore Action Plan call for the definition of commonly agreed regional offshore standards and guidelines to be integrated and used at national level.

The proposed common standards and guidance have been developed through a collective and fruitful consultative process and have been reviewed and revised by relevant MAP bodies. Their adoption by the Contracting Parties would allow harmonised regional practices in the Mediterranean Sea Area regarding i) the disposal of oil and oily mixtures, and the use and disposal of drilling fluids and cuttings and associated analytical measurements; from one hand and ii) the process regarding offshore activities in Specially Protected Areas (SPAs), covering the full range of development life cycle stages, including geophysical survey, exploratory drilling, field development and decommissioning, with the view to ensuring that no significant impacts are caused on Specially Protected Areas (SPAs).