The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) attended the presentation-seminar of the “Report on the Mediterranean economies” (2019), published by CNR Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo (ISMed), held in Naples on 2 March 2020. Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, PAM Secretary General, represented the Assembly during the event.
The opening remarks were delivered by the Italian Minister of Environment, H.E. Sergio Costa, who stressed the need for policymakers to offer a vision about fighting climate change and achieving sustainable goals to solve interconnected climate change and economic issues.
During the event, academics introduced the report, which examines the environmental relation with economic growth and political stability. Research data showed that increased pressure on resources and the scarcity of water and arable land, make climate change a determining variable in amplifying the critical issues of the Mediterranean. Researchers also highlighted that the knowledge of these dynamics is crucial to allow governments to develop adequate development policies and wide-ranging mitigating actions that can guarantee geopolitical balances.
Ambassador Piazzi summarized the debates in his concluding remarks on the effects of climate change on the Mediterranean economies and environment. Starting from the PAM Resolutions on climate change and economy, unanimously adopted at the recent PAM Plenary Session in Athens, he stressed the role promoted by PAM through international cooperation with the aim to harmonize legislation and action plans to counter the rise of greenhouse gas emissions. Amb. Piazzi also noted the failure of the EU emission trading system and recalled the proposed establishment of a Carbon Added Tax, adopted by PAM at its 9th Plenary Session in 2015, which main purpose is to be a strong deterrent to the use of fossil fuels, main source of greenhouse gas emissions, and that has now been picked up by the European Commission in its recent European Green Deal.
The presentation of the ISMed represented an excellent opportunity for PAM to reinforce contacts with representatives of academia specialized in climate changes and the role of the economy within the Euro-Mediterranean region.