New MAP biennium on the way

At the 20th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP20) to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and its Protocols that took place in Tirana, Albania, on 17-20 December 2017, the way for the new biennium 2018-2019 has been paved. More than 140 country representatives and MAP partners in addition to the Secretariat and MAP components atteded this important event. The meeting discussed and adopted several thematic Decisions including those related to the revised Reporting Format, Compliance Committee, Governance, Biodiversity and Pollution, and in particular on the first Quality Status Report 2017 that is based on the IMAP indicators. This output is regarded as the MAP flagship of the current biennium.

With regard to PAP/RAC, the decision IG.23/7 on Regional Framework for ICZM/MSP was one of the most important ones. The major decisions were related to the Programme of Work and Budget and the Tirana Declaration. The first Istanbul Environment Friendly City award was given to the city of Izmir.

The COP 21st will take place in Italy.