Early last week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) engaged in two important meetings addressing climate action and sustainable development in the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf regions.
On 7-9 June 2021, PAM played an essential role in the 19th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD). During the first day of the meeting, PAM rapporteur on the Environment, Hon. Alain Perea, provided an overview of the Assembly’s ongoing and upcoming efforts in the framework of the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD). He outlined the main findings of the report on climate change he presented at the 15th PAM Plenary Session, emphasizing the necessity for PAM countries of adopting climate emergency declarations at the national level to bring climate action on top of their political agendas.
On the second day of the meeting, PAM Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, moderated a multi-stakeholder roundtable discussion in which the representatives of the MCSD exchanged on the “Achievement of the SDGs and Transition towards a Sustainable Blue Economy for a Post-COVID Green Renaissance in the Mediterranean”. In his opening remarks, Amb. Piazzi highlighted the Assembly’s commitment to closely work with its network of partners to deliver effective science-policy interfaces to promote policies based on scientific evidence.
Along the same lines, on 5 June 2021, PAM Secretary General, contributed to the 9th Regional Growth Conference hosted by the Greek newspaper Peloponnisos. In his remarks, Amb. Piazzi underlined the crucial role that parliamentarians play in translating scientific evidence into concrete legislative measures to contrast climate change. He also stressed PAM’s continued efforts to support interparliamentary dialogue and policy exchange to forward the decarbonization of economies in the region through post-Covid recovery plans.
With its participation at these gatherings, the Assembly reaffirms its role as a key player in the green transition of Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf countries. As part of this effort, next month, PAM will host high-level consultations with experts from UN Agencies and international organizations to prepare PAM parliamentarians for the upcoming climate negotiations, namely G20 in Naples, COP26 in Glasgow and the Mediterranean COP22 in Antalya.