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Marijana Mance, EU

Aslı Topalak, Turkey

Ran Amir, Israel

Doumi El Hassane, Morocco

Highlights for Wednesday, 4 December 2019

The Ministerial Session of 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) took place on Wednesday, 4 December 2019, in Naples, Italy.

Delegates convened early Wednesday morning to resume negotiations on the draft decisions on the programme of work and budget. Delegates were only able to address, but not conclude, their discussions on the budget.

The Ministerial Session convened thereafter. Sergio Costa, Minister of Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, opened the Session. Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat, reading a message from the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, highlighted the Contracting Parties’ commitment to targeted initiatives to promote, among others, sustainable development and reducing marine litter.

In a video Message, Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, stressed the need to address the “plastic plague,” which has even permeated the food chain to the point where “we are eating the consequences.” Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director, UNEP, remarked that a recently concluded study found that there are about 62 million individual pieces of marine litter floating in the Mediterranean Sea.

Gaetano Leone said the Barcelona Convention must be central to the events taking place during 2020 as the “super year” for the global development and environmental agenda. Desiree Quagliarotti and Frederica Gasbarro, Youth representatives, highlighted Youth involvement in the COP 21 preparatory process. Leone then reported on activities carried out in the framework of UNEP/MAP since COP 20.

Delegates also heard a high-level panel discussion on “Protecting the marine environment and coastal region of the Mediterranean: game-changing action for sustainability.” Key take-aways included:

• leverage points to accelerate the required transition must be identified;
• the blue economy is key;
• marine litter, among others, is an access point for action; and,
• cities have a leading role to play in the sustainable development of the region.

During the afternoon and evening, delegates heard statements from Ministers and Heads of Delegation, as well as adopted the Naples Ministerial Declaration. They also returned to their negotiations of the budget, governance and compliance decisions. The governance and compliance decisions were approved. After new budget suggestions, the Secretariat agreed to recalculate the budget in time for presentation in Thursday's Plenary session.

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Ministerial Session

Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste

Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens, Greece

Gavin Edwards, WWF

Thomas Frölicher, Lead Author, IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

Highlights for Tuesday, 3 December 2019

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) convened for its second day on Tuesday, 3 December 2019, in Naples, Italy.

Delegates faced a full agenda as decisions needed to be finalized before the Ministerial Session, which takes place on Wednesday. The morning session saw discussions continue on thematic decisions, including:

• Assessment Studies
• Common Regional Framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management
• Identification and Conservation of Sites of Particular Ecological Interest in the Mediterranean, including Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance
• Strategies and Action Plans under the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean
• Main Elements of the Six Regional Plans to Reduce/Prevent Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources; Updating the Annexes to the LBS and Dumping Protocols of the Barcelona Convention
• Updated Guidelines Regulating the Placement of Artificial Reefs at Sea
• Development of a Set of Regional Measures to Support the Development of Green and Circular Businesses and to Strengthen the Demand for more Sustainable Products

The afternoon discussions addressed the draft decisions on the budget, compliance and governance. It also saw delegates begin their discussion on the contentious issue of a Road Map for the Possible Designation of the Mediterranean Sea Area as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides (SECA) Pursuant to MARPOL Annex VI, within the Framework of the Barcelona Convention.

Delegates worked into the evening to conclude their work in a largely cordial atmosphere, and despite many diverging views on how to proceed and concerns regarding “wordsmithing” the decision, they were able to heed the calls for an outcome on this important topic at the COP and approve the draft decision on a road map towards a possible SECA in the Mediterranean.

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Moustafa Fouda, Egypt

Ayelet Rosen, Israel

Victor Escobar, EU

Florence Descroix-Comanducci, Executive Secretary, Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS)

Samira Hamidi, Algeria

Marylene Beau, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention Secretariat

Highlights for Monday, 2 December 2019

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.

+ Visit the web coverage for Monday, 2 December 2019

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

“2019 Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award”