The European Commission and Secretariat General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) organised a "stakeholder conference", in Barcelona on Thursday 2 February, "on the sustainable development of the blue economy in the western Mediterranean".
The concept refers to blue, the symbolic colour of the Mediterranean, and to the future of regional cooperation focusing on maritime and related activities. "Maritime and land-based activities in the western Mediterranean region, along with the progressively more urbanised coastline, are at the origin of a wide spectrum of pressures affecting marine and coastal ecosystems", the conference-organisers state. "These range from high resource consumption (water, energy, food products, raw materials, coastal space) to air and water pollution releases and waste generation but also climate change effects on biodiversity and marine resources", they say.
The basis of this regional cooperation will involve ports and maritime transport. The goal is "to make maritime activities more sustainable (for example, green shipping or fishing, smart ports), and reduce environmental impacts and overall economic costs", which require the constant development of infrastructure and upgrade of existing skills through "effective professional education and training schemes".
The goal is to create a "smart and innovative western Mediterranean basin" because according to the conference-organisers, "innovation and knowledge creation and sharing is an essential element in ensuring a future-proof blue economy in the western Mediterranean". (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)