Introduction
The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) is a regional cooperation platform established in 1975 as the first regional action plan under the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.
UNEP/MAP was instrumental in the negotiation and adoption of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols by the Contracting Parties: 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union.
History
The Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution (Barcelona Convention) was adopted on 16 February 1976 in Barcelona and entered into force in 1978.
The Barcelona Convention was amended in 1995 and renamed as the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean. The amendments to the Barcelona Convention entered into force in 2004.
The Barcelona Convention and its seven Protocols adopted in the framework of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) constitute the principal regional legally binding Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) in the Mediterranean.
The UNEP/MAP–Barcelona Convention system is the comprehensive institutional, legal and implementation framework that the Contracting Parties have adopted for concerted action to fulfill the vision of a healthy Mediterranean Sea and Coast that underpin sustainable development in the region.
Over the last four 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.
Objectives
Article 4.1. (General Obligations) of the Barcelona Convention reads as follows: “The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention agree to individually or jointly take all appropriate measures in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and the Protocols in force to which they are party to prevent, abate, combat and to the fullest possible extent eliminate pollution of the Mediterranean Sea Area and to protect and enhance the marine environment in that Area so as to contribute towards its sustainable development. They cooperate in the formulation and adoption of Protocols, prescribing agreed measures, procedures and standards for the implementation of this Convention.”
Protocols
- Dumping Protocol
- Prevention and Emergency Protocol
- Land-Based Sources Protocol
- Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity Protocol
- Offshore Protocol
- Hazardous Wastes Protocol
- Integrated Coastal Zone Management Protocol
Recent activity and achievements
In December 2019, the 21st Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP 21) to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols was held in Naples, Italy. The main outcome was the Naples Declaration aiming to address the pressure faced by Mediterranean ecosystems in the context of unsustainable growth and climate change.
The Naples Declaration consists of 14 Decisions providing strong political support to the UNEP/MAP mandate in four priority areas: marine litter, the blue economy, biodiversity and marine protected areas, and climate change. These priorities were to be integrated into the 2022-2027 Medium Term Strategy of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system.
The adopted document included a groundbreaking proposal of a roadmap for the possible designation of the Mediterranean as an emission control area for sulfur oxides, and mandated the preparation of additional legally binding measures to address marine litter, waste water and sludge management. On biodiversity, the Declaration set a time-bound target aiming at achieving at least 10% of coverage of the Mediterranean region with Marine Protected Areas by the end of 2020.
At the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP 22) to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (December 2021, Antalya, Turkey), the UNEP/MAP Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) for 2022-2027 was adopted.
The strategy is aligned with the Rio+20 Outcome Document and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets as part of the delivery of the UNEP/MAP mandate.
The MTS outlines the following four main objectives:
- To drive transformational change and enhance the impact of the MAP-Barcelona Convention system and its contribution to the Mediterranean region.
- To ensure that the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the Mediterranean Sea and coast, the relevant SDGs and their targets, and the post-2020 global biodiversity goals (and associated targets) are achieved.
- To contribute to strengthening Mediterranean solidarity and peoples’ prosperity.
- To contribute to the Building Back Better approach of the UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19 towards a green recovery of the Mediterranean.