News

5 June 2020. Today marks World Environment Day, an important opportunity to raise awareness, engage people, and take action on the critical environmental challenges facing our planet.   The Mediterranean region faces manifold environmental challenges, including wildfires, the destruction of ecosystems, and an unprecedented loss of biodiversity. The recent scientific report focused on the regional environmental impacts of climate change, a project supported by the UfM, further underlined the urgent need of action in this area as it confirmed the Mediterranean was warming 20% faster than the rest of the world. Tackling environmental challenges is therefore high on the agenda for the Union for… read more

Around 80 percent of global trade is transported by commercial shipping and intra-Mediterranean maritime trade flows account for nearly 25% of global traffic volume. The maritime industry is playing an essential role in the short-term emergency response to the COVID-19, by facilitating transport of vital commodities and products. Despite the current difficult times, a vast majority of ports have succeeded to stay open to cargo operations. However, most of them still remain closed to passenger traffic. Mid and long-term recovery will need to further enhance sustainability and resilience of the maritime transport sector as a whole, for sustaining jobs, international… read more

32 Mediterranean species are already known to be globally extinct, or extinct in the wild.  Mega fires caused by climate change have destroyed record areas of forest in recent years and damaged biodiversity. Areas susceptible to fires could increase by up to 40% with just a 1.5°C increase in temperature.  The Union for the Mediterranean promotes and supports studies and projects in the region to halt biodiversity losses and achieve sustainable and inclusive growth for the post coronavirus recovery.  https://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/biodiversity-02.mp4   21 May 2020. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) joins the celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity as an excellent opportunity to increase awareness on biodiversity issues in the… read more

The Union for the Mediterranean launches a new initiative with the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), for universities, research centres and policymakers to share best practices and boost career opportunities in the Mediterranean region. The new initiative seeks to improve the nexus between research, innovation and employability as key tools for relaunching sustainable and resilient economies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis..  5 and 19 May 2020. Despite young people in the Southern Mediterranean being the most educated generation ever, graduates in the region still experience the highest level of unemployment, at 25% according to the United Nations Development Programme.  To help galvanise innovation in the region, the… read more

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME) met with experts at the 3rd Brainstorming Meeting to further discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drinking water and sanitation. 19 May 2020. The provision of safe water, sanitation and hygienic conditions is essential for protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), especially in some areas of the Euro-Mediterranean region, already under stress due to the water scarcity caused by the climate crisis. Together with the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME), the UfM held the 3rd virtual working session on the… read more

Much attention is being paid to what the ‘new norm’ will look like as crisis management of the pandemic moves increasingly to recovery policies and stimuli. Within this context, the Union for the Mediterranean’s recent webinar explored two questions on many young people’s minds – where will the opportunities be and what skills will I need in the post-COVID world? 20 May 2020 – The overall socio-economic impact of COVID-19 is yet to be fully determined. But one thing seems clear: the current crisis will affect the economy and jobs in unprecedented ways and we will all have to adapt…. read more

The first UfM webinar gathered different youth representatives  to highlight the Euro-Mediterranean Youth voluntary response during the Coronavirus  crisis 14 May 2020. How are youth volunteers responding to COVID-19? How are local or regional organisations in the Euro-Mediterranean region mobilizing youth to respond to the pandemic? To answer these questions and many more, the UfM gathered different youth voluntary organisers including international, regional and local organisations and NGOs from the ufM Member States. The webinar called “the Euro-Mediterranean Youth voluntary response to the COVID-19 crisis” saw the opening of the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel who stressed the fact that… read more

The exercise will point to energy efficient solutions, using a new online tool developed by the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency together with United for Efficiency. By incorporating efficiency into existing and planned infrastructure systems, costs can be controlled, service delivery can be improved and access expanded without necessarily adding to the cost of the service. 18 May 2020. The Mediterranean local communities play a key role in the energy transition. Cities are in the best position to take action on the ground and meet local needs in order to address a growing energy demand, the climate emergency and the… read more

The UfM strengthens collaborative efforts to address the impacts of pollution together with the UN Environment Program / Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP).  13-14 May 2020. The Mediterranean Sea is the most polluted European sea with 200 thousand tons of plastic dumped each year. Also, air pollution from ships in the Mediterranean causes up to 6,000 deaths per year. Both sources of pollution were tackled during the UNEP 21st Meeting of the Members of the Steering Committee of Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development on 13-14 May 2020. With the participation of the UfM, the discussions focused on marine litter, biodiversity, marine protected areas and coastal management, as well as… read more

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME) met with experts from Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey to share their response to the water emergency and provide policy recommendations on how to move forward. Participants agreed that providing sustainable water access is essential for many jobs and discussed their emergency and recovery plans to help water utility operators cope with the crisis. Over 250 million people are expected to be “water poor” within the next 20 years in the Euro-Mediterranean region, with numbers potentially exacerbated by the COVID-19… read more