The work 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 (Barcelona Convention) and its Protocols opened on Monday, 2 December at Castel dell’Ovo, a seaside historical fortress located in the Gulf of Naples.
Ms Klodiana Marika, Albania, President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties, opened the plenary session. The delegates were greeted by Mr. Luigi De Magistris, Mayor of Naples, Mr. Sergio Costa, Minister of Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, Mr. Habib El-Habr, Coordinator, Global Programme of Action, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and Mr. Gaetano Leone, Coordinator, UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)-Barcelona Convention Secretariat.
Participants then addressed substantive aspects of the agenda, as follows:
- 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.
On the occasion of the COP21, the prize was awarded to a representative of Ashdod, Israel, the city which won the “Istanbul Environment Friendly City Award". Crikvenica, Croatia, and Hatay, Turkey are second and third placed, respectively.
COP21 Highlights per day are available here.
