Med News 03/2020
EDITORIAL l UNEP/MAP Coordinator Gaetano Leone
Moment of truth
A disruptive pandemic has revealed the centrality of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system to a resilient and sustainable future in the Mediterranean
When it saw the light of day more than four decades ago, the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) marked a watershed moment. Under the auspices of UNEP, an unprecedented coalition of riparian countries started building what would become the most comprehensive legal framework to have ever been set up in a regional sea context.
We have gone a long way since and we are still pressing for more. The Barcelona Convention and its Protocols have gradually filled what had been an abyssal regional regulatory void in the Mediterranean. This endeavor continues thanks to the commitment of the riparian countries and the European Union.
Several thematic strategies and regional action plans under the Barcelona Convention are being updated and new projects (demonstrative field interventions to shore up Contracting Parties’ efforts) launched.
The recently inaugurated MedProgramme funded by GEF and featuring contributions from two regional development banks will step up efforts towards a cleaner Mediterranean.
The next Medium-Term Strategy (2022-2027) of UNEP/MAP will concentrate our expertise and resources on accelerating the fulfillment of our vision: healthy and productive marine and coastal ecosystems in the context of sustainable development, acknowledging the need to build back greener as the region recovers from COVID-19.
“We urgently need to step up ambition and action on the three planetary crises of climate change, nature loss and pollution to head off further pandemics and other, potentially far graver, shocks, the UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen recently said.
The Mediterranean is a region where the symptoms of the triple planetary crisis are taking acute forms. The science–as encapsulated in the findings of the recently released State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean (SoED), and the First Assessment Report (MAR 1) of the network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change (MedECC)—has spoken: the Mediterranean is facing the prospect of irreversible damage if urgent action is not taken to halt current trajectories.
There has been a lot of talk about recovering greener. SoED puts evidence at the fingertips of decision-makers, notably on how business-as-usual has affected natural systems and societies in the Mediterranean, and thus can help them walk the talk. MAR1 illustrates the need for smart climate action that makes our region more resilient to future shocks.
Despite the doom and gloom of this moment, we stand a chance to see a new policy doctrine that protects ecosystems while delivering on the promise that the 2030 Agenda constitutes. There is no need for miracles or magic wands. A bold transformation is needed to reengineer our relationship with the Mediterranean Sea and Coast.
As colossal sums flow towards recovery, green paths must be prioritized in all sectors, including renewable energy, integrated water resource management, sustainable agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, alternative tourism, and low-emission shipping, to name but a few.
Mediterranean countries could have chosen those green paths years ago. But perhaps the pandemic is the jolt that will nudge the region into action. A new push for compliance with existing obligations under the Convention and its seven Protocols, including regional plans and regulatory measures, will set the scene for and catalyze sustainability-driven national policies.
Since the early days of the pandemic, we have devised a strategic response in support of action by the Contracting Parties, and we identified practical ways in which the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system can support a green renaissance.
Let me quote Ms. Andersen again: “2021 could be a make or break year”. This is the moment of truth. All the ingredients of success are in place: knowledge, technology, awareness, a generally favorable public opinion and a vibrant civil society (that is more connected than ever) as well as a pro-sustainability legal and implementation framework that the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system has given to the Mediterranean through a multilateral process spanning more than four decades.
By embarking on national policies that invest in sustainability and resilience, decision-makers can bring about a green renaissance in the entire region. But for that to happen, we will need all hands on deck. Turning words into deeds will be crucial, and policy forums, such as those offered by our partners in the Union for the Mediterranean and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, could facilitate a a greater integration of the legal instruments and implementation tools offered by the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system.
Avoiding unnecessary institutional overlaps and fostering cooperation in our region must prevail because in Mare Nostrum we are all in this together.
The Mediterranean : A basin under pressure
The Mediterranean is a fragile eco-region with unique cultural heritage and exceptional biodiversity.
Development is focused on its coastal areas, which are subject to multiple pressures. Coastal urbanization, mass tourism, overexploitation and salinization of freshwater, pollution and marine litter, overfishing, expansion of maritime traffic and non-indigenous species are common concerns.
The concentration of populations in coastal areas continued unabated in the past decade. Between 1965 and 2015, urban pressure continued to increase in threequarters of Mediterranean countries with built-up areas at least doubling in the coastal strip (less than one kilometer from the sea).
This has resulted in the loss of surface of natural coastal ecosystems, thus affecting the services associated with them, and in heightened coastal risks for the populations that depend on them. This raises the issue of enforcement of the Protocol of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) of the Barcelona Convention, which stipulates that Contracting Parties must establish in coastal zones an area of at least 100 m in width where construction is prohibited. The phenomenon of “littoralisation” contributes to the destruction of fragile natural environments and agricultural lands which play a crucial role not only in carbon capture, but also in flood regulation and maintenance of biological balance. This also has consequences on the survival and development of a traditional peasant activity (crops of cereals and legumes with arboriculture) which avoids or slows down the rural exodus.
Dealing with the multiple pressures of the economic sectors (tourism, transport, industry, mining) presupposes the integration of environmental issues in the design of investments and projects. Careful consideration should be given to the transport sector, to investments and maintenance of road, rail, port and airport infrastructure and their environmental impact, to vehicle pollution control, to the transition to new ones. technologies (electricity, hydrogen), reducing the environmental impacts of civil and military maritime transport. The industry and extractive industries must improve their efficiency in the context of a circular economy characterized by the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste and attention to the production and use of chemicals.
The Mediterranean: Awareness for action
Human activities and behavior are the main drivers of environmental change in the world, and the Mediterranean is no exception. These activities place increasing pressure on ecosystems leading to degradation of the environment and livelihoods. A further exacerbation of the existing fragilities of the eco-socio system Mediterranean is projected.
The Mediterranean region has one of the highest ecological deficits in the world. The ecological footprint per capita in the Mediterranean (3.2 hag / inhabitant) is higher than the world average (2.8 hag / inhabitant), while the biocapacity per inhabitant - making it possible to support this footprint - is lower than the world average in the majority of Mediterranean countries (except in France, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia).
Profound changes for sustainable development are needed. In order to induce transformative change that tackles the drivers of environmental degradation, the report identified five levers of action:
- Incentives and capacity building: phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies and incentivizing sustainable options – including removing subsidies on non-renewable energies and groundwater extraction – while empowering local administrations and actors to implement nationally or internationally agreed commitments and measures.
- Intersectoral cooperation: ensuring that shifting development pathways are shared by all sectors, not just Ministries of the Environment, and prioritising sustainability in all sectoral policies.
- Preventive action: implementing measures that prevent degradation, which are generally less costly and lead to better environmental and social outcomes than clean-up and curative action.
- Resilience-building under uncertainty: directing action and investment towards adaptation to projected environmental stresses, including by harnessing nature-based solutions.
- Enforcement of legal obligations: promoting the adoption of provisions in national legislation to allow for accountability and legal action, and strengthening the legal and administrative mechanisms involved in enforcement including those undertaken by the Mediterranean countries under the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols.
The report provides a foundation for evidence-based environmental action in the region; its authors stress the urgent need for appropriate and effective policy responses to alleviate pressure on the environment while meeting pressing human development needs.
The declarations of the UNEP / MAP Coordinator, Gaetano Leone, and the Director of Plan Bleu, François Guerquin, make us aware that it is urgent to reverse the trajectories, and to disseminate the innovations and promising initiatives carried by many actors in the basin.
Please visit the SoED's webpage for more information and to download the full Report, the Summary for decision makers, the Key Messages and other documents.
