UfM partners with CIHEAM and FAO to promote the Mediterranean Diet as a tool to support sustainable development in the region

• On the occasion of the 2nd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet in Palermo, the UfM met with CIHEAM and FAO to partner in support to a new platform on sustainable food systems in the region
• Within the conference, UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, participated in the session “A Mediterranean Contribution on Environment and Sustainable Co-Development to the Summit of the Two Shores”, to which the UfM is contributing with a UfM Regional Dialogue Forum in Barcelona

Palermo, 15-17 May 2019. The Conference, organised by CIHEAM Bari and the Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures and under the auspices of the UfM, promoted the Mediterranean diet as a lever for bridging consumption and production, in a sustainable and healthy way.

This is particularly relevant as the Mediterranean holds nearly 28% of endemic species and 7.5% of the World’s marine Fauna and 18% of its marine flora. The lower threshold of temperature increase of 1.5 degrees established by the Paris Agreement has already been exceeded due to expanding anthropogenic impact, which further aggravates existing environmental, economic and social challenges.

The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, intervened on the opening session “A Mediterranean Contribution on Environment and Sustainable Co-Development to the Summit of the Two Shores”, a preparatory event of the upcoming Summit which will be held in Marseille 23-24 June. UfM SG highlighted that “our Mare Nostrum has always been a bridge among cultures and a pathway towards exploration that shaped the world as we know it today.” Additionally, UfM Deputy Secretary General, Miguel Garcia-Herraiz, participated in the session on “Blue Economy, Green economy, circular economy: partnership proposals for an urban and coastal Sustainable Development in the Western Mediterranean”, underlining best practices on Water, Environment and Blue Economy.

During the event, the UfM agreed to work with CIHEAM and FAO on a Mediterranean food systems platform, which aims at framing the Mediterranean diet as a tool for implementing sustainable consumption and production in the region, as well as a model for promoting inclusive regional development.

During the conference, the UfM SG had meetings with the President of the Governing Board, Mohammed Sadiki, the Secretary General of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), Placido Plaza, the Italian UfM Senior Official, Enrico Granara, the Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation, Nabil Al-Sharif, and with the RIDE-APS Secretary General, Enrico Molinaro. DSG García-Herraiz met with ADG of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department at FAO, Arni Mathiesen.

The conference was the occasion to raise awareness on several ongoing challenges in the Mediterranean and at the core of UfM areas of work such as water scarcity, migration, employment, research and innovation, among others.

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