The Mediterranean context:

The Mediterranean makes you dream with the beauty of its landscapes, its climate, its historical and cultural heritage. It is a unique place due to its biodiversity, its coastline and its inland sea. Today, this idyllic portrait is cracking and its wealth is deteriorating, in the 21 other countries bordering the Mediterranean. It is today one of the most polluted seas in the world, the basin and its ecosystems are in danger and hit hard by climate change and the degradation of ecosystems.

The Barcelona Convention System, the first ever Regional Sea Convention.

Since February 1976, the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention and its successively adopted protocols constitute a unique and advanced multilateral institutional, legal and implementation framework for the protection of the marine and coastal environment and sustainable use of their resources in the Mediterranean, adopted by its Contracting Parties - the 21 riparian countries and the European Union - for concerted action to fulfil the vision of a healthy Mediterranean Sea and Coast that underpin sustainable development in the region. Over the decades, the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system has responded to evolving environmental challenges and bolstered a growing body of knowledge on marine and coastal ecosystems and of interactions between development and environment in the Mediterranean region.

Under the guidance of the coordinating unit, 6 Regional Activity Centers and 1 programme are included:

More about Info/RAC Manage the Barcelona Reporting System: the UN Mediterranean tool conceived for the benefit of the Contracting Parties to support them in reporting obligations to the protocols. INFO/RAC’s website and geoportal on MAP data

More about PAP/RAC Support implementation of the Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management by the Priority Action Plan / Regional Activity Center (PAP/RAC), which maintains a dedicated knowledge platform on ICZM.

More about SPA/RAC Support implementation of the Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean. The SPA/RAC provides a map of Mediterranean protected areas and a knowledge platform on biodiversity.

More about REMPEC Supports implementation of the Protocol on cooperation in preventing pollution from ships and, in case of emergency, in combating pollution of the Mediterranean sea. REMPEC also provides related data via MedGIS-MAR.

More about MedWaves The Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in the Mediterranean. Named MedWaves in May 2021. Website Monitors the implementation of the SCP regional Action Plan.

More about Plan Bleu 1. Observatory of the environment: Monitoring the MSSD and the Mediterranean observatory. 2. Systemic and foresight analysis center: Med2050 foresight exercise. 3. Plan Bleu’s website

MEDPOL More about MEDPOL The Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean (MED POL) is the first MAP operational programme. MedPol’s website

The active link below (the map) offers the users a direct access to the “WESR: Mediterranean” project on MapX

The Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD)

The MCSD has been established in 1996 as an advisory body to the Contracting Parties to assist them in their efforts to integrate environmental issues in their socioeconomic programmes and to promote sustainable development policies in the Mediterranean region and countries. Acting as a forum for experience sharing and peer learning, the Commission is unique in its composition and includes not only government representatives but also local authorities, socio-economic actors, non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, the scientific community and parliamentarians. All MCSD members participate in its deliberations on an equal footing.

The MCSD notably coordinates the preparation of the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD)as a strategic framework document for all stakeholders and partners to translate the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at regional, sub-regional, national and local levels.

Plan Bleu follows the implementation of the MSSD through the MSSD dashboard.

More resources

Information available to monitor the status of environment and development in the Mediterranean include:

• a Mediterranean library gathered by Plan Bleu Regional Activity Center to inform its assessments and analysis
• A Knowledge platform compiled in the framework of the GEF Med Programme
• Main reports: (SoED, MAR1, MedQSR2017, ...)
• The Ecosystem approach and the MedQSR 2023 The MAP-Barcelona Convention system commits to the Ecosystem Approach as an overarching principle, with 11 Mediterranean Ecological Objectives and a Roadmap to support regional national efforts towards achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) in the Mediterranean.
• The Mediterranean Experts on Climate and environmental Change (MedECC) is an open and independent international scientific expert network founded in 2015 and providing information to decision-makers and the general public on the basis of available scientific information and on-going research.