Brussels, 13/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 12-13 May in Athens in the context of the Informal Environment Council, environment ministers from the Euro-Mediterranean area made a commitment to tackling the environmental challenges confronting the region.
The EU was represented by the European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potocnik, who co-chaired the meeting with the Jordanian foreign minister, Taher Al Shakhshir.
This meeting was the first to be organised as part of the Euro-Mediterranean framework, in liaison with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). A joint declaration was published at the end of the meeting. Participating countries pledged their commitment at this meeting to tackling the effects of climate change and on a more general level, tackling environmental challenges confronting the region, explained the declaration.
Commissioner Potocnik stated that “we have renewed our political commitment to decontaminate the Mediterranean Sea and have taken significant measures to increase our cooperation on climate change and sustainable consumption”. He added that, “the real work will now begin. We have to translate the political commitments contained in the declaration into action at both national and regional levels”.
The Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, added her comments to the results from the meeting and stated in a press release published on Tuesday 13 May by her services “I'm very glad that on both sides of the Mediterranean, we have decided to step up our common efforts in the fight against climate change. We are committed to an ambitious, legally binding deal in Paris next year as agreed in Durban, and are determined to work more closely together to make it happen”.
Hedegaard emphasised that “the Mediterranean region is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but is also rich in opportunities for low-carbon development, including significant potential for renewable energy and energy and resource efficiency”.
She added that “in recognition of these challenges and opportunities, we have also established a regional climate change expert group for cooperation across the Mediterranean”. This regional group's task will be to promote exchanges of experience, data and knowledge between the countries involved. (FB)