Brussels, 25/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative (MCCI) was launched by ministers from the countries of the Mediterranean rim in Athens on Friday 22 October. This initiative, proposed by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, will seek to increase cooperation on environmental issues among the governments of the Mediterranean basin and to promote and facilitate investment in low-carbon projects throughout the region. European Investment Bank (EIB) President Philippe Maystadt, who attended the launch, noted that scientists agree that the Mediterranean, and more especially its southern and eastern rims, is and will continue to be more affected by climate change than most other regions of the world in the course of the 21st century. In his opinion: “the EIB's biggest added value in the region lies in its capacity to bring the expertise it has developed in the EU to the Mediterranean partner countries”.
The launch of the MCCI was followed on Saturday 23 October, by the first Mediterranean Green Development Investors Forum, jointly organised by the Institute for Climate and Energy Security (i4cense) and the EIB, under the auspices of the prime minister of Greece. The forum allowed key policy-makers, technology providers, business and finance leaders and international investors to discuss the initiatives and investments for a sustainable green economy across the Mediterranean, including: - how to create a legislative and financial framework that provides an incentive for and is conducive to green investment in the Mediterranean; - how to exploit the Mediterranean region's unrivalled potential in renewable energy for domestic and neighbouring markets; - how to attract international investors attention to green project opportunities in the Mediterranean with a focus on development and innovation tourism, urban renewal, research and energy efficiency. (O.L./transl.rt)