SoED Report 2020

The report on the State of the Environment and Development (SoED) published today warns that the Mediterranean basin is facing environmental and developmental challenges of an unprecedented scale. Against a backdrop of rising inequalities, the alarming pace of biodiversity loss, the rising impacts of climate change and the unrelenting pressure on natural resources, including pollution, are pushing the region towards dangerous tipping points. Unless urgent and resolute action is taken to halt current trends, irreversible environmental degradation could have dire consequences for human health and livelihoods.

The SoED 2020 is made up of eight thematic chapters and is complemented by two position papers: the Summary for decision makers that provides an overview of the state of the environment and development in the Mediterranean and is intended for a wide audience, and the Key Messages that gathers evidence from various chapters most closely related to marine and coastal environmental issues and highlights the combined interactions and impacts according to the analytical framework of factors-pressures-state-impacts-responses (DPSIR). The key messages develop a broader significance of the results, conveying relevant but non-prescriptive suggestions for policy makers in the context of the Mediterranean Action Plan – The Barcelona Convention System, and identify priority areas for future policy-oriented research. Key messages are consistent with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs, as well as the SMDD.

Read the full Report here

Read the Summary for Decision Makers here

Read the Key Messages here