The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) was represented by a high-level delegation headed by PAM Secretary General, Dr. Sergio Piazzi, at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, between 3 to 8 April 2011.
PAM attended the pre-sessional workshops, the sixteenth Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 16) and the fourteenth Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperation Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 14).
The PAM delegation in Bangkok was also composed of Senior Officials from the International Ocean Institute (IOI) in Thailand, with whom the Assembly works to contribute to the UN Secretary General’s report on “Oceans and the Law of the Sea” in view of further assisting UN efforts on environmental matters. This illustrates the various structured partnerships PAM has established at a high level with key international organisations and agencies such as the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Benefiting from its unique network of Parliamentarians and Experts in the region, PAM Working Groups, under the 2nd Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation, have underlined the urgent need to take the appropriate measures to meet Copenhagen and Cancun Summits expectations. The Mediterranean region has severely suffered from Climate Change, notably by experiencing its consequences in key aspects of its modus vivendi, such as desertification, deforestation, water resources, temperature, sea levels, trade, tourism and migration.
For that reason, PAM is mobilizing all its resources and efforts to address the Climate Change growing challenge for the good of the Mediterranean and its peoples. In close cooperation with the UN/ISDR Secretariat, PAM organized in Malta, prior to its active participation in COP 15, the “International Roundtable of Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaption” which resulted in “the Malta Declaration of the Commitment by Parliamentarians to COP 15 and Beyond”, unanimously adopted on 24 November 2009. The ‘Malta Declaration’, given the long term vision adopted by the participants at the Round Table, still represents key proposals and measures that can be implemented in order to meet the most immediate requirements that can positively influence climate change processes.