Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) launch at COP28 in Dubai

2 December 2023, Dubai – The Mediterranean region is a recognised marine biodiversity hotspot where climate change further accelerates exposure to environmental risks and puts additional stress on the coastal infrastructure and activities. There is a growing international concern about the scale and speed of biodiversity loss and marine ecosystem degradation, with serious negative impacts on economy and sheer existence of coastal communities. Political declarations and initiatives of the major stakeholders call for multilateral concerted actions and investments to promote blue economy investments.

The Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) is a platform for coordinating interventions and leveraging resources to enable sustainable blue economy investments in the
Mediterranean region.

The creation of the BMP was announced at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh jointly between the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the European Union, the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the Kingdom of Morocco.

The BMP seeks to increase coherence, cooperation and coordination among all stakeholders concerned to increase the impact and visibility of sustainable blue economy investments.

The primary objectives of the BMP are to:

• Support sustainable blue economy investments that crowd-in public and private sector finance.
• Enhance capacity on sustainable and innovative blue economy practices and in the design and delivery of projects.
• Create and reinforce enabling environments for sustainable blue economy investments through the support and development of strategies, policies and regulatory frameworks.

It provides a critically needed vehicle to leverage public and private sector financing to advance environmental protection, while building better more sustainable economies and boosting local employment opportunities in the Mediterranean region.

The BMP supports sustainable blue economy investments in the public and private sectors and provides the support needed to bring well-structured and bankable projects to fruition. Its priority areas include plastic waste reduction, marine food systems, coastal resilience, coastal tourism, marine mobility, marine renewable energy, and wastewater treatment.