Following the endorsement by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention during their COP 19 in February 2016 (Athens), of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016-2025 (MSSD), and of the Regional Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Mediterranean (SCP AP), a second technical workshop, co-organized by Plan Bleu and the Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC), will take place in Barcelona on 17 October 2016 on “How to monitor the MSSD and SCP AP”.

The main objective of this workshop is to discuss and validate a Mediterranean Sustainability dashboard to be adopted by COP 20 at the end of 2017. Plan Bleu will also develop a dashboard on the Blue economy in the Mediterranean region, in line with objective 5 of the MSSD: Transition towards a green and blue economy.

The MSSD 2016-2025 is based on the integration between socio-economic development and the protection of natural resources, including the transition towards a green and blue economy combined with sustainable consumption and production, echoing the Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) : “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”.

The MSSD is complementary with the SCP AP, which focuses on four priority areas: food, agriculture and fisheries; goods manufacturing; tourism; and housing and construction. Those areas represent drivers of pollution generation and environmental pressures on the marine and coastal ecosystems, but at the same time they are important contributors to the Mediterranean economies and to social well being.

The workshop has four specific objectives: a) to present and discuss the Mediterranean Sustainability dashboard; b) to present and discuss the blue economy dashboard; c) to present and receive feedback from the countries on the set of SCP indicators; and d) to agree on the mandate for the technical working group on SCP indicators.

The workshop will gather Mediterranean countries’ representatives nominated by Plan Bleu and SCP/RAC focal points, members of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), international experts and Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) representatives.

The Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (Tour du Valat/MedWet), which Plan Bleu is a long term partner, will insure its active participation in order to demonstrate the importance of the values and services that wetlands insure in the frame of the MSSD, articulated with the SDGs, and synergies with the Ramsar Convention Strategic Plan, and the MedWet Action Plan. (More info on MedWet Framework for Action here.

For more information, here.

Source: Plan Bleu