The SCP/RAC Focal Points gathered to participate on the SCP Action Plan consultation process

The meeting was one of the milestones of the consultation process launched following the mandate given by a Decision of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention during the last Conference of the Parties in which requested to UNEP/MAP Secretariat, with the support of SCP/RAC, to prepare the Mediterranean SCP Action Plan. In the Decision, the Contracting Parties expressed the need for “a consultation process to ensure that the experience and input of key Mediterranean SCP stakeholders and other relevant bodies active on SCP in the Mediterranean Region, are reflected in the final document”.

The consultation process, which is being implemented under the EC funded SWITCH-Med Programme, started with an on-site consultation meeting involving around 40 international, Euro-Mediterranean and Mediterranean organisations (1-2 October in Marseille (France)) in which participants were invited to provide inputs for the 4 priority economic sectors around which the action plan is articulated (food and agriculture, goods and manufacturing, tourism and housing and construction);  and continued with an on-line consultation held last October in the SWITCH-Med platform (www.switchmed.eu) in which contributors had the opportunity to complement the outcomes of the Marseille meeting.

On the basis on the results of this consultation phase with regional and international organisations, the first draft of the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Action Plan for the Mediterranean was elaborated and presented to the Focal Points to provide their feedback on the structure and discuss about its strategic and operational objectives for each of the 4 economic sectors. According to Magali Outters (Team leader at SCP/RAC)”this consultation meeting was very constructive and allowed us to collect substantial inputs for the elaboration of the second draft of the SCP Action Plan for the Mediterranean to be shared with the countries by the end of January”.

The consultation phase will conclude with the presentation of the document during the Conference on the Review of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD), which will take place in Malta on the 17-18 February 2015. This meeting will allow ensuring further coherence and synergies between the two processes and will mark the entry of the SCP Action Plan for the Mediterranean in its validation phase.

Government representatives of 22 Mediterranean countries (Albania, Algeria, Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Jordan and Palestine) and the European Union attended the meeting, as well as representatives from Plan Bleu, SPA/RAC, PAP/RAC and representatives of SCP/RAC partners such as UNIDO, UNEP/DTIE and UfM.

For more information: www.switchmed.eu

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