At COP24 in Cairo this week, the participating countries, including EU Member States, committed to continuing their work together to protect and preserve the Mediterranean Sea.

The adopted decisions will strengthen EU marine environmental policy, boost efforts to achieve healthy seas and promote an integrated approach that recognises the links between land, sea, wildlife, and people.

In their joint declaration, Ministers stressed that investing in sustainable development creates jobs and improves social and economic conditions. They recognised that a healthy environment underpins economic stability and committed to expanding the representation of women and youth organisations in the regional sea basin. This aligns with broader EU efforts to give underrepresented groups a stronger voice in environmental decision-making.

The declaration builds on decades of regional cooperation in the Mediterranean and reaffirms a shared commitment to protecting the ocean for future generations, a cornerstone of EU marine environmental protection laws. 

Key decisions

• An updated Mediterranean strategy for sustainable development, guiding action for the next decade to protect the marine environment while supporting jobs, communities, and economic growth.
• A strengthened ecosystem approach, setting out a clear plan to better protect the Mediterranean Sea, grounded in the best environmental science and aligned with the EU’s objective of healthy and resilient marine ecosystems.
• An updated regional climate adaptation framework, helping Mediterranean countries strengthen climate and water resilience, by enhancing the protection of vulnerable coastal ecosystems. A new Regional Activity Centre for Climate Change will coordinate its implementation.  

These decisions align with the EU’s strategic approach to the ocean, as developed in the recently adopted European Ocean Pact.  

Background

The Mediterranean Sea is a vital economic engine for the EU, supporting millions of jobs in tourism, fisheries, shipping, and coastal industries, while sustaining countless coastal communities and driving prosperity across Southern Europe. It is also a climate change and biodiversity hotspot, facing growing environmental pressures.

Under the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Member States must coordinate with each other and other non-EU countries through existing cooperation structures at the sea basin level, in particular the Regional Sea Conventions, when developing their marine strategies.

The Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, is the regional framework that protects the Mediterranean marine and coastal environment and supports regional and national plans to achieve sustainable development. 

More information

Marine environment | European Commission

COP 24 Cairo | UNEPMAP