Climate and energy transition

The pollution of the Mediterranean Sea will not be overcome unless the partnership between local, national and European authorities will be strengthened. This is one of the main messages of the 'Euro-Mediterranean Cities" declaration presented on 19 December in Barcelona at the occasion of the launch of the European Commission's new initiative 'de-pollute the Mediterranean by 2020".

 

France Gamerre, deputy mayor of the city of Marseilles presented the declaration on behalf of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Medcities, Eurocities, ICLEI and the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Management of Sustainable Resources.

 

In the declaration, the cities stated that urban environment initiatives, such as the initiative to de-pollute the Mediterranean by 2020, should be considered as one of the main priorities of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Environment protection should not be an isolated policy but integrated across all the policy areas of the Barcelona Process.

 

The cities and local authorities support the Commissions initiative to de-pollute the Mediterranean by 2020. In order to achieve this objective, the initiative should focus on the following policy fields: municipal waste management, wastewater treatment, air pollution, cleaner production, industrial emissions, tourism and the environment, protection of the coastline and biodiversity. The initiative should also promote the polluter-pays-principle as an instrument to finance urban environment initiatives.

 

European Commissioner for Environment, Stavros Dimas, attended the conference.

 

The declaration on the depollution of the Mediterranean Sea