On Wednesday 15 October, the MATTCCh and EuroMed Rights networks of civil society organisations who are involved in the fight against climate disruption and the defence of human rights, issued their recommendations with a view to making the ‘New Pact for the Mediterranean’ – to be unveiled by the European Commission on Thursday – an initiative based on social justice and one that is useful for the climate transition.
The Mediterranean is a region that is bearing the brunt of climate disruption, with average annual temperatures more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, even though the region is responsible for only 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, noted the two organisations.
As a shared “existential” threat, they argue, climate action should be the cornerstone of renewed cooperation [in the Mediterranean region] and a “powerful driver” of regional integration, economic opportunity and political stability.
In the area of energy transition, they recommend supporting the TeraMed initiative, which is a civil society-led initiative that proposes to produce 1 terawatt of electricity from renewable energies.
The two networks also stress that the ‘New Pact for the Mediterranean’ should help to uphold respect for the EU’s core values, such as the Rule of law. The Pact should “include a robust commitment to assessing the human rights impact of EU funded actions and investments across the [Mediterranean] region”, they stressed.
See the recommendations of MATTCCh and EuroMed: https://aeur.eu/f/iz1 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)