The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participated at the Fourth Session of the UN Environment Assembly 2019 held in Nairobi, Kenya on 11 – 15 March. PAM was represented by Hon. Costel Alexe, member of the delegation of the Parliament of Romania.
The UN Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. The theme for this year was dedicated to “Innovative Solutions to Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production”. The 2019 Assembly had three areas of focus: (a) tackling the environmental challenges related to poverty and natural resources management, including sustainable food systems, food security and halting biodiversity loss; (b) introducing life-cycle approaches to resource efficiency, energy, chemicals and waste management; (c) ensuring sustainable business development at a time of rapid technological change.
The event represented another occasion for PAM to show its commitment to environmental issues due to the extreme vulnerability of the Mediterranean region, which is particularly affected by climate change in terms of sea level rise, extreme weather events and threats to bio-diversity.
The Assembly is fully aware that solutions to these challenges are to be found and implemented collectively. Since 2009, PAM decided to give an international, inter-institutional approach to its environment-related activities and together with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. In that year PAM gathered MPs from all around the world and adopted the Malta Declaration, which was then presented on the occasion of the COP15 of Copenhagen.
Furthermore at the 13th Plenary Session held in Belgrade last month, the PAM Bureau has unanimously agreed to strengthen relations with UNEP while the Assembly has adopted a Resolution on “Climate Change after the COP24. What way forward?”, where, inter alia, member countries are called to respond to the threat of climate change, together with PAM, through activities focused on the legislative action in support of emissions reduction and adaptation.