The ENPI Horizon 2020 Capacity Building/Mediterranean Environment Programme to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 (ENPI H2020 CB/MEP) (original) (raw)

Report on the Mediterranean Sea Pollution Situation Addressed by the Horizon 2020 Program of the ENPI, and Challenges in the Research Domain (See Page 35)

In most Mediterranean countries the main source of water for domestic use are surface waters, with the exception of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. In the case of Palestine, it is because of its absence of control of surface waters, and Cyprus and Malta because of their insular character. In most countries the main use of water is for agricultural purposes, except in France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Palestine where urban and industrial use is dominant. A clear trend is the diversion of water uses from agriculture to industry and urban development. However, a mix of policies is needed to provide alternatives to the actual use of water for agricultural purposes, taking into account the demographic displacements to the Mediterranean shores, but also the enormous fraction of population dedicated to agriculture in many Mediterranean countries. The waste water treatment situation is very uneven among countries and the related data corresponding to urban and industrial waste water production in most case has not been properly identified and differentiated. Waste water in France, Malta and Cyprus are treated to a tertiary level, while it is treated to a secondary level in the majority of Mediterranean countries. In several countries, such as Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Morocco and Palestine, most of the waste waters receive no treatment. Except Slovenia, the level of waste water treatment has increased for the last ten years in most countries, but with varying percentages ranging from 100% in the case of Malta to 1% in the case of Croatia. Only few Mediterranean countries have implemented wastewater reuse within their water plans, and farmers often irrigate with untreated or partially treated wastewater. Regarding desalination, most of the countries are nowadays using this technology, although only a few of them have done it within a planned integrated framework, and none has a clear strategy for the management of the resulting brines.

Towards the sustainable management of the Mediterranean Sea

Marine Policy, 1995

The Mediterranean Sea is moving from the Action Plan to the adoption of the Agenda 21, namely a sustainable development-inspired programme, extending cooperation between states to the economic development and social equity according to the UNCED Agenda 21. Analysis is focused on the role of a unique physical framework, characterized by complicated tectonic movements, a stage-based view of the changes in the economic contexts, including the main coastal and ocean uses, and the establishment of a continental shelf-based maritime jurisdictional framework. In the final part, the need to restructure the decisionmaking systems is considered.

The Mediterranean Sea and the quest for sustainable development

Ocean Development and International Law, 2009

The author addresses the evolution of environmental cooperation in the Mediterranean region by surveying the Mediterranean Action Plan framework and recent initiatives by UN specialized and funding agencies promoting sustainable development. The author notes that an initial concern with marine pollution in the 1970s led to greater attention to integrated planning of development of coastal and marine areas since the 1980s. In concluding, the author draws attention to growing complexity, the limits of regionalism, the continuing lack of popular constituencies for regional arrangements, and problems of implementation. November 2009 Ocean Development and International Law 23(1):17-30

Tackling pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from land-based sources by an integrated ecosystem approach and the use of the combined international and European legal regimes

2009

The successful protection of marine and freshwater areas and ecosystems, including specially protected areas, is highly dependent on the effectiveness of an integrated approach to prevent and combat land-based pollution. Several legal regimes have been developed to regulate and solve this kind of pollution on the international level as well as on the European level. Therefore, this integrated approach requires coherence between European and international legal regimes and between the regulation of freshwater and the seas. An effective legal regime should provide clear goals and clear responsibilities and take into account the relevant impacts and pressures and the transboundary elements of the action against pollution of the sea from land-based source areas, and therefore respond to the need for cooperation between states and the need for an integrated approach to regulate all impacts and pressures that could influence the goals and targets for the specific protected areas. Integrat...

Assessing the progress in depolluting the Mediterranean Sea

Marine pollution bulletin, 2015

The depollution of the Mediterranean Sea by 2020 is the overarching goal of Horizon 2020 Initiative (H2020). The first phase (2007-2013) tackled the main land-based pollution sources; municipal waste, urban wastewater and industrial emissions. As part of the H2020 roadmap implementation, the ENPI-SEIS project focused on the first H2020 review mechanism that included a) establishing a process for regular environmental reporting in the European Neighbourhood Policy South countries, and b) generating the knowledge necessary to assess the progress in depolluting the Mediterranean Sea. This paper reviews the process in line with the "Shared Environmental Information System" principles and its three pillars (content, cooperation, infrastructure). The main outcomes of the thematic assessment, based on a set of regional H2020 indicators, are also presented. This assessment highlights the major drivers and their implications on marine protection. It also identifies areas that requi...

Steps toward a shared governance response for achieving Good Environmental Status in the Mediterranean Sea

Ecology and Society, 2014

The Mediterranean region is of fundamental importance to Europe given its strategic position. The responsibility for its overall ecosystem integrity is shared by European Union Member States (EU-MS) and other Mediterranean countries. A juxtaposition of overlapping governance instruments occurred recently in the region, with the implementation of both the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for EU-MS and the Ecosystem Approach Strategy (ECAP) for all Mediterranean countries, including EU-MS. Both MSFD and ECAP are structured around vision-driven processes to achieve Good Environmental Status and a Healthy Environment, respectively. These processes have clear ecosystem-based, integrated policy objectives to guarantee the preservation and integrity of Mediterranean marine ecosystem goods and services. However, adoption of these instruments, especially those related to the new EU-MS directives on marine policy, could result in a governance gap in addition to the well-known economic gap between the EU and the non-EU political blocs. We identify two complementary requirements for effective implementation of both MSFD and ECAP that could work together to reduce this gap, to ensure a better alignment between MSFD and ECAP and better planning for stakeholder engagement. These are key issues for the future success of these instruments in a Mediterranean region where discrepancies between societal and ecological objectives may pose a challenge to these processes.

A Euro-Mediterranean Green Deal? Towards a Green Economy in the Southern Mediterranean

2021

EuroMeSCo has become a benchmark for policy-oriented research on issues related to Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, in particular economic development, security and migration. With 104 affiliated think tanks and institutions and about 500 experts from 29 different countries, the network has developed impactful tools for the benefit of its members and a larger community of stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Through a wide range of publications, surveys, events, training activities, audiovisual materials and a strong footprint on social media, the network reaches thousands of experts, think tankers, researchers, policy-makers and civil society and business stakeholders every year. While doing so, EuroMeSCo is strongly engaged in streamlining genuine joint research involving both European and Southern Mediterranean experts, encouraging exchanges between them and ultimately promoting Euro-Mediterranean integration. All the activities share an overall commitment to fostering youth participation and ensuring gender equality in the Euro-Mediterranean experts' community. EuroMesCo: Connecting the Dots is a project co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) that is implemented in the framework of the EuroMeSCo network. As part of this project, five Joint Study Groups are assembled each year to carry out evidence-based and policy-oriented research. The topics of the five study groups are defined through a thorough process of policy consultations designed to identify policy-relevant themes. Each Study Group involves a Coordinator and a team of authors who work towards the publication of a Policy Study which is printed, disseminated through different channels and events, and accompanied by audiovisual materials. POLICY STUDY This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

Climate Change and Sustainability: Mediterranean Perspectives (Ed.)

IAI Research Studies 6, Rome, Nuova Cultura, July 2021, 135 p. : ill., 2020

This volume examines the challenges and interlinkages between climate change and sustainable development across the Mediterranean, where the climate crisis is further aggravating pre-existing political, social, economic and environmental fragilities. The research takes stock of present realities and seeks to identify priority areas of engagement while promoting better understandings of the nature and implications of this multidimensional relationship. Recognised as a climate change “hotspot”, this region is particularly exposed to the climate emergency and its cascading effects on human security and development. Rising temperatures, declining precipitation and increased pollution, combined with urbanisation and demographic growth, are adding significant stress to state and societal resilience. Individual chapters address the relationship between climate change and the water-food nexus across Mediterranean states; the promise and obstacles to digital agriculture as a way to improve yield outputs while diminishing negative externalities; the challenges of plastic pollution and waste in the Mediterranean region and the impact that impending energy transitions, including in the domain of the European Green Deal, may have on sustainable development across Mediterranean states.