Sea and air pollution from ships in the Mediterranean were tackled during the UN Environment Programme 21st Meeting of the Members of the Steering Committee of Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development on 13-14 May 2020. With the participation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the discussions focused on marine litter, biodiversity, marine protected areas and coastal management, as well as a proposal to make the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, an Emission Control Area for sulphur oxides emitted by oil fuel of ships.
During the two-day online event, the Members of the Commission, also covered concrete collaborative efforts between UN Environment Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and the UfM, including technology solutions on waste reduction successfully implemented through the Water and Environment Support (WES) project. This EU-funded initiative, part of the UfM Water Agenda, focuses on strengthening the efficient use and reuse of water in urban and rural areas in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.
The Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development Steering Committee also featured the key outcomes of the UfM consultation on the Blue Economy, which will pave the way towards the preparation of the Second UfM Ministerial Meeting on Blue Economy, tentatively planned in July 2020.
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