The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) will participate at the MEDCOP 21 Mediterranean Climate Summit to be held in Marseille on 4-5 June 2015. The Summit is organised by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, presided by H.E. Michel Vauzel, who is also Vice-President of PAM. The two day Conference is held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic, H.E. Francois Hollande.
PAM will be represented by a high level delegation including former PAM President, Senator Francesco Amoruso (Italy), and PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi.
Climate change, environment, energy and sustainable development, together with food security and waste management, are among the priority issues to which PAM is particularly committed in its endevours to engage Mediterranean parliamentarians and all other regional stakeholders in networking initiatives, policy debates and the coordination of national legislations.
In the Malta Declaration of the Commitment by Parliamentarians to COP 15 and Beyond adopted in November 2009, on the occasion of the International Roundtable of Parliamentarians on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, jointly organised by PAM and UN, parliamentarians from around the world had, inter alia, recognized that measures for climate change adaptation will contribute not only to the prevention of problems resulting from increasingly scarce resources, which may lead to conflicts and local displacements, specially related to water and land, but will also represent an opportunity to create employment and sustain development.
On the occasion of the 9th PAM Plenary Session held in Monaco last February, the Assembly adopted a resolution which includes the establishment of a Carbon Added Tax, a consumption tax, based on the mechanism of the Value Added Tax (VAT). Its main purpose is to be a deterrent to discourage the use of fossil fuels. Furthermore, the proposal aims at setting a price on carbon, whereby all economic agents that emit and consume “carbon content” will have to bear the economic cost of these emissions.
The objective of the event in Marseille is to highlight the common commitment in the fight against climate change and will demonstrate the contribution of local authorities, associations, businesses, and networks working as catalysts for sustainable development. The Summit is being held in the context of the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which France will be hosting from November 30 to December 11, 2015.
MEDCOP21 will revolve around four round tables and six workshops. The roundtables are intended to open discussions on transversal issues: the role and strategies of States; civil society initiatives; technical and financial accompaniment tools. The workshops will be divided into two sessions: the first session will discuss the issues, actions and obstacles encountered in the thematic scope of the workshop; on the second day, participants will be invited to build concrete proposals which will become commitments.