Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat, with Maria Carmela Giarratano, COP 21 President, Italy
The 21st Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (the Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols (COP 21) opened on Monday, 2 December 2019, in Naples, Italy.
Klodiana Marika, President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties, Albania, opened COP 21. Luigi De Magistris, Mayor of Naples, welcomed delegates and stated that Naples is experimenting with plastic free areas and new pedestrian zones along the coast. Sergio Costa, Minister of Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, called for more ambitious targets, especially on reducing sulfur dioxide emissions.
Habib El-Habr, Coordinator, Global Programme of Action, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), underscored that the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management is the first legally binding plan of its kind.
Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)-Barcelona Convention Secretariat, appealed for parties to “look beyond the minutia of words and budget lines and consider decisions in light of the need for higher ambition.”
Participants then addressed organizational matters such as rules of procedure, election of officers, and credentials. Turning to substantive aspects of the agenda, participants considered the:
- Naples Ministerial Declaration;
- Programme of Work and Budget for 2020-2021;
- draft decision on compliance;
- draft decision on governance; and,
- implementation, monitoring, and mid-term evaluation of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016–2025 and of the Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Mediterranean;
Ashdod, Israel, was awarded the second “Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award.” Crikvenica, Croatia, and Hatay, Turkey, were awarded second and third place respectively. Presenting the award, Gaetano Leone highlighted the action taken by Ashdod to reconcile development with environmental protection. He recalled the Mayor of Naples remarks in the opening session that although urban areas in coastal zones may face many challenges, many solutions can be found in their urban realities.
L-R: Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat; Sergio Costa, Minister of Environment, Land and Sea, Italy; Klodiana Marika, President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties, Albania; Luigi de Magistris, Mayor of Naples, Italy; and Habib El-Habr, Coordinator, Global Programme of Action (GPA), UNEP
Klodiana Marika, President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties, Albania
Luigi de Magistris, Mayor of Naples, Italy
Sergio Costa, Minister of Environment, Land and Sea, Italy
Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat
Habib El-Habr, Coordinator, GPA, UNEP
Maria Carmela Giarratano, COP 21 President, Italy
Video message to COP 21 by Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, International Maritime Organization
Odeta Cato, Chair, Compliance Committee
Marijana Mance, EU
Oliviero Montanaro, Italy
Participants making their way back to plenary
L-R: Irene Cavoura-Vasileiadi; Ilias Mavroeidis; and Luisa Rodriguez-Lucas, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat
Aslı Topalak, Turkey
Camille Loth, WWF
“2019 Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award”
Yechiel Lasry, Mayor, Municipality of Ashdod, Israel
Yechiel Lasry, Mayor, Municipality of Ashdod, Israel, received the “ 2019 Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award” presented by Maria Carmela Giarratano, COP 21 President, Italy
Side Event Photos: “A Collective Multi-Stakeholder Driven Mediterranean Response to Marine Litter”
