Blue Med Partnership moves to identify and approve funding for sustainable blue economy investments

• The first gathering of the Blue Med Partnership’s donors, implementing partners, and beneficiary countries took place in Barcelona, with parties identifying a remarkable portfolio of sustainable blue economy investments in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan.
• The Mediterranean Sea generates more than $450bn annually and is a vital resource for 480 million people in 22 countries. It is also warming at a rate 20% faster than the global average and is threatened by pollution and overexploitation.

23 May 2024, Barcelona. The steering committee of the Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP), a partnership that aims to tackle the Mediterranean Sea’s severe environmental threats by coordinating the financing of sustainable blue economy investments in the region, met for the first time at the Union for the Mediterranean’s headquarters in Barcelona. Acting as the facilitator of political and regulatory dialogue, the UfM hosted donors, implementing partners, and beneficiary countries who identified several sustainable blue economy investments in Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan but also in other EU Southern Neighbourhood countries that could join the partnership soon.

Through a new multi-donor fund (the “BMP Fund”) managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Blue Mediterranean Partnership seeks to secure additional funding from sovereign donors for project preparation, and blended finance. So far, contributors that have committed are Germany 4,000,000 euro, Sweden 6,765,000 euro, DG MARE 1,000,000 euro, AFD/France 2,000,000 euro and Spain 8,000,000 euro. Announcements of additional donations from other parties are expected to follow in the coming months.

The Blue Mediterranean Partnership was officially launched at COP27 in December 2022 when key partners expressed wide political support for the creation of a new partnership. Consequently, on 15 November 2023, the EBRD in its capacity as fund manager, established a new Blue Mediterranean Partnership Cooperation Fund with General Conditions approved by the EBRD Board of Directors. At COP28 in November 2023, the partners stepped up their commitments by signing statements of intent to participate in the Partnership as enshrined in the BMP Partnership Framework.

The BMP Implementing Partners are multilateral development banks, development financial institutions and international organizations whose policies and procedures are in line with international best practices, and who have signed a statement of intent. So far, the following Implementing Partners have signed statements of intent: AFD, EBRD, EIB, CDP, KfW and UfM. Implementing financial institutions will be able to benefit from the grants provided by the BMP Fund mobilizing also existing financial resources provided by the European Commission through the Neighborhood Investment Platform (NIP) and the EFSD+.

The beneficiary countries, Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt will lead the identification of strategic blue economy projects in their territories while the Union for the Mediterranean will act as facilitator of the political and regulatory dialogue.

The BMP grant support will be channeled to the Beneficiary countries via the Implementing Partners based on a pipeline of bankable investment proposals presented for discussion at the BMP Steering Committee meetings. Beneficiary countries are welcome to bring project ideas for consideration and further development by the Implementing Agencies. The approval of grant allocations to projects will be carried out by the Contributors to the BMP Cooperation Fund.

“The Blue Mediterranean Partnership is a significant milestone as it exemplifies a unique and visionary response to the escalating need for cross-border collaboration. It reflects our shared commitment to working together, pooling resources, and achieving success in addressing the climate emergency in the Mediterranean,” said UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel. “Today we are starting to move from policy to implementation, analysing concrete investments that benefit our common region.”