UfM Regional Platform on Environment and Climate Action

The Mediterranean is under growing environmental pressure. Almost every part of the region, on land and at sea, has been affected by recent environmental change caused by human activity. The main drivers are climate change, population growth, pollution, unsustainable use of land and sea, and non-indigenous species (MedECC, 2020). Because the Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea, pollution or damage in one place soon reaches others, and lasting results depend on countries working together across borders and sectors.

UfM cooperation on the environment took shape with the first UfM Ministerial Declaration on Environment and Climate Change, adopted in Athens on 13 May 2014. It brought countries together around three areas: the H2020 Initiative for the De-pollution of the Mediterranean Sea, sustainable consumption and production, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. In 2018, the UfM Task Force on Environment was set up to design a post-2020 agenda. That work led to the 2030 GreenerMed Agenda, endorsed by Ministers in the 2nd UfM Ministerial Declaration on Environment and Climate Change, adopted in Cairo on 4 October 2021.

The Platform works through the UfM Working Group on Environment and Climate Change, which brings together the UfM Task Force on Environment and the UfM Climate Change Expert Group. It gathers senior officials and experts from UfM Member States, along with regional and international partners. Together they guide and oversee the Agenda’s implementation and keep regional dialogue going. In March 2026, the 10th meeting of the Working Group updated and validated the Agenda. More than 340 associated projects and programmes across the region now support it.

The Platform’s work rests on the 2030 GreenerMed Agenda. The Agenda is built around three interrelated priority axes and delivered through Key Actions that range from sustainable food systems and tourism to marine litter, marine protected areas and forest restoration. It also contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.