News

20-21 February 2023, Dubai –The Union for the Mediterranean, together with the Spanish Agency for Cooperation, AECID, have organised a key session in the framework of the Arab Water Convention, the Interactive Session 4 on Design Thinking Challenge (Future Lab). In the event, spokespersons have pitched new and innovative, out-of-the box ideas that could help make non-conventional water resources in the region more financially attractive. The Arab Water Council supported by the League of Arab States and the Union for the Mediterranean have organized its Arab Water Convention, dedicated this year to address the use of Non-Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) as… read more

16-17 February 2023, Barcelona – The UfM Water Task Forces, Water, Environment, Food and Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus, Water Access, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Water, Employment and Migration (WEM) Nexus and Water Climate Change Actions (WCCA) meeting took place on 16 and 17 February 2023 in the Union for the Mediterranean premises in Barcelona. The meeting brought together the leaders of the task forces, strategic partners and UfM countries representatives as well as civil society in order to reflect on the Biannual Work Plans 2023-2024, and next steps towards meeting the objectives determined by the UfM Ministerial Declaration on Water (Malta, April 2017). It… read more

UfM holds an official visit to new Member State, North Macedonia, to discuss regional environmental challenges and potential cooperation initiatives. 31 January 2023, Skopje. Following the entrance of the Republic of North Macedonia into the Union for the Mediterranean last November, UfM Deputy Secretary General in charge of Water, Environment and Blue Economy, Almotaz Abadi, paid an official visit to the new Member State to meet with the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Naser Nuredini and the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water, Abdylshyqr Abedini, in Skopje. The accession of the Balkan country comes at a moment of great need… read more

24-25 January 2023, Athens. The Plan of Action for a Model Mediterranean Sea by 2030 (PAMEx) held its first Steering Committee meeting on 24-25 January 2023 in Athens, Greece with the participation of UfM Deputy Secretary General in charge of Water, Environment and Blue Economy, Almotaz Abadi and UfM Senior Expert, Marie-Claire Boillot. In the meeting, partners followed up on the implementation of the 20 concrete actions that PAMEx encompasses, including governance matters and the functioning of the Local Investment Finance Facility (PLIFF) —the innovative financial mechanism created to underpin the implementation of PAMEx—. The Steering Committee meeting also reviewed… read more

EU-UfM High Level Conference on strengthening water finance and investment policies under climate change takes place in Cairo (Egypt) as a prelude to COP-27. The EU and the Union for the Mediterranean are committed to supporting UfM countries in developing and strengthening their water investment and finance policies. There is a need to act on exploring, advancing and implementing the means of leveraging finances, developing and transferring technology and building capacities on national and regional levels. Cairo, 17 October 2022 – As water is the sector most heavily hit by climate change in the Mediterranean region, governments need to address some… read more

19 September 2022 – The UfM Water Task Forces, Water Access, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), and Water Climate Change Actions (WCCA), took place during the IME’s Regional Symposium “Our Mediterranean: water challenges and regional priorities for 2050” on 19-20 September 2022 under a hybrid format from Valencia, Spain. Bringing together country representatives and regional stakeholders of the UfM region. Both meetings came as a result of the continuous endeavours of the UfM towards its Member states to help them bringing about decisive actions to meet their environmental challenges and tackle climate change in the Mediterranean. Moreover, they came following the UfM member states ‘request… read more

27-28 June 2022, Lisbon The UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel attended the UN Ocean Summit where he showcased the work of the Union for the Mediterranean on the protection of the Mediterranean Sea and environment. The Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, comes at a critical time as the world is seeking to address many of the deep-rooted problems of our societies laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic and which will require major structural transformations and common shared solutions that are anchored in the SDGs. The SG took the opportunity to meet with the recently appointed Minister of… read more

22 June, 9:00 – 18:00h, World Trade Center, Barcelona – The UfM Blue Finance Conference took place on the 22nd of June, 2022, at World Trade Center in Barcelona.  The goal of the Conference was to encourage investments in- and funding of- Sustainable Blue Economy projects and initiatives in the Mediterranean region, especially in the Southern countries. We brought together financial institutions, banks (multilateral and national), private investors and UfM country and industry representatives to exchange information on funding, discuss criteria and viability of projects/initiatives and the enablers and conditions, which may help attract investments.  The Conference was structured around two main… read more

5 June 2022. The World Environment Day 2022  calls for transformative changes in policies, including ensuring that maritime activities are sustainable, innovative and job-creation oriented. In order to tackle blue economy challenges, the UfM and the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG Mare) are organising the UfM Blue Finance Conference on 22 June in Barcelona, bringing together financial institutions, banks, private investors as well as key representatives of the UfM countries.  “The ocean economy is expected to double to $3 trillion by 2030, employing 40 million people, as compared to 2010” highlights the UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel…. read more

6 April 2022 – This multi-episode documentary, Mediterranean, Odyssey for Life, directed by Frédéric Fougea and narrated by Camélia Jordana and Guillaume Néry, will show the beauty of our shared sea through breathtaking footage and give a message of hope. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has been working on environmental and climate issues for many years and, as such, is very proud to have participated in this documentary, featuring an interview with the Secretary General. As an organisation working on regional cooperation, the goal is to raise awareness and build consensus among its Member States on how to respond to… read more