Meeting of the MAP Focal Points, Athens, Greece, 13-16 October 2015 – Oct 13, 2015

    Meeting of the MAP Focal Points, Athens, Greece, 13-16 October 2015

    REMPEC participated in the Meeting of the Focal Points of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), hosted in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 16 October 2015.

    The objectives of the Meeting were to review the progress achieved during the 2014-2015 biennium in the implementation of the programme of work and activities approved by the Eighteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (“the Barcelona Convention”) and its Protocols, which was held in Istanbul, Türkiye, from 3 to 6 December 2013.

    Participants were expected to approve a number of thematic draft decisions for submission to the Nineteenth Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP 19), which will be convened in Athens, Greece, from 9 to 12 February 2016, aiming at strengthening the implementation of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, as well as the proposed biennial Programme of Work and Budget 2016-2017 prepared by the Secretariat in cooperation with the MAP Components.

    The Meeting was also expected to review and transmit to COP 19 for its consideration and possible adoption a number of strategic and programmatic documents such as the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD) 2016-2025, the UNEP/MAP Mid-Term Strategy 2016-2021, and various Action Plans.

    Amongst others, the outcome of the discussions relating to the following three (3) draft decisions, was of paramount importance to REMPEC:

    • Programme of Work and Budget 2016-2017;
    • Draft decision on Regional Strategy for Prevention of and Response to Marine Pollution from Ships (2016-2021); and
    • Draft decision on Mediterranean Offshore Action Plan in the framework of the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf and the Seabed and its Subsoil.