On 30 August 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participated in the 30th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSCP), which focused on “Sustainable democracy – how to face a changing world”.
The BSPC was jointly organized by the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) and the Baltic Sea Parliament, and chaired by Hon. Pyry Niemi, President of the BSPC for the biennium 2020-2022. The conference dealt with three key topics: Peaceful and Reliable Neighborliness, Democracy in a changing media landscape, Climate change and biodiversity. These policy areas paved the way for a fruitful and lively debate among more than a hundred parliamentarians and high-level participants.
Representing PAM, Hon. Pedro Roque Portugal, addressed the conference highlighting concerns towards the increasingly pressing effects of climate change in the PAM region and globally. In particular, he drew the attention of the participants to the tragic images of floods and summer wildfires across Europe and North Africa, urging full-scale political commitments to address and prevent them. In this respect, Hon. Roque stressed the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation with the aim to exchange good legislative practice that can help facing their challenges.
PAM and the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding at the upcoming PAM Bureau Meeting in Rome.