Launch of the first ever Mediterranean Quality Status Report – Jan 01, 2018

The 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report was launched at the 20th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, held in Tirana, Albania, on 17-20 December 2017. On that occasion, the Contracting Parties, i.e. 21 riparian countries of the Mediterranean and the EU, endorsed the key findings of the Report and welcomed its recommendations.

The 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report is an important achievement, based on joint and integrated efforts of the Contracting Parties, Partners, and the UN Environment/MAP Secretariat and Components. It provides a unique contribution to assessing the status of the Mediterranean ecosystem and the progress towards the achievement of its Good Environmental Status (GES). It is also an important milestone for the UN Environment/MAP system 40-year long experience in monitoring and assessing the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean.

The 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report represents the current progress in the development of an integrated monitoring programme for the Mediterranean. This is a key element in the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach Roadmap adopted in 2008, and of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) adopted in 2016. IMAP is based on 11 Ecological Objectives for the Mediterranean and defines 27 indicators.

The 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report is the result of significant contributions of the Contracting Parties, as well as the large participation of other stakeholders. It will serve as the baseline to define the progress towards GES or maintaining GES and to sharpen and target national monitoring programmes to fill existing gaps. Indications on concrete measures to be taken to achieve GES are contained in the Report and will guide the work for filling knowledge gaps towards the 2019 State of Environment Report and the next 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report.

Finally, the 2017 Mediterranean Quality Status Report not only brings together national data and information to the regional level, but also contributes to current work at the global level including the Regional Process on a Second World Ocean Assessment and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially its ocean-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).