The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) reiterated its commitment to the issue of sustainable development and its implications on the region, on the occasion of the 2nd SDSN Mediterranean Conference: “Solutions for Agri-food Sustainability in the Mediterranean”.
This event, organised by the University of Siena under the auspices of PAM, is an initiative sponsored by the UN SDSN Mediterranean and the Region of Tuscany (Italy). It was held in Siena on 5-6 March 2015. It represents the first operational meeting in the framework of the PAM Academic Platform launched in Catania last December. Many members of the PAM Platform attended the Siena event, where several bilateral meetings were held ON its margins, including with additional academic and research institutions interested in joining this new PAM project.
PAM was represented by Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi, who stressed the need for political and economic stability as key factors in guaranteeing safe, accessible, nutritious and sufficient food to the population of the Me¬diterranean region.
“For this reason, the priorities outlined by researchers and experts at the conference, such as water management, climate change mitigation, the use of pesticides, sustainable agricultural techniques, must be accompanied by stable political and eco¬nomic frameworks, in order to guarantee the effectiveness of policies in these areas”, Amb. Piazzi added.
Food security is one of the priorities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, because the region has specific features which make it particularly vulnerable to it. Among these aspects there are the marked urbanization and the increasing population density in coastal areas, and related social and economic disparity between urban and rural areas. In addition, the prices of food commodities, such as cereals and sugar, combined with water shortage, represent a major threat to political stability. In the recent past, both commercial speculation and the use of cereals to produce biofuels have exacerbated further this trend.
Furthermore, PAM is continuously working on establishing a regional approach to deal with the issue of food security, which should be based on legislation, education and research.
“The member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean are fully aware of this, and they are ready to play their role of lawmakers, in order to implement the policies needed at the national level. PAM will contribute to the process in facilitating the cooperation among member parliaments, in order to have national legislative frameworks which are harmonised and coherent at the regional level. The EXPO 2015 in Milan will represent an excellent opportunity for PAM MPs to contribute to the debate and sustainable policies to ensure food security in the region”, Dr. Piazzi told the conference.