Blue Mediterranean Partnership launched

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(Photo: Twitter)
AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) announced on Wednesday the creation of the Blue Mediterranean Partnership, which aims to support the development of a sustainable blue economy in countries of the southern Mediterranean region, starting with Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, according to the EBRD website.اضافة اعلان

The announcement, as reported by media outlets, was made at the Sharm El-Sheikh COP27 summit.

The Blue Mediterranean Partnership aims at creating a new financial instrument to provide both funds and technical assistance for sustainable blue economy projects, and bridge an investment gap estimated at about 6 billion euros in the next eight years.

Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority Nayef Bakheet said: “Jordan’s access to the sea is restricted and there is an urgent need in the country for comprehensive, integrated water resources and solid waste management, including sustainable desalination, to protect our precious water ecosystems and resources.  A Blue Mediterranean Partnership would increase the financing opportunities alongside the policy reforms.”
... The Mediterranean Sea’s ecosystem is under threat from habitat loss and degradation, over-fishing, pollution, and climate change.
The Mediterranean Sea basin is a recognized marine biodiversity hotspot and a vital resource of economic activities for 480 million people living in the region’s 22 countries. It is the fifth largest economy in the region after France, Italy, Spain, and Turkey, generating an annual economic value of more than $ 450 billion. However, the Mediterranean Sea’s ecosystem is under threat from habitat loss and degradation, over-fishing, pollution, and climate change.

The Blue Mediterranean partnership will promote the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles, the world’s first global guiding framework ensuring alignment of investments with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 “life below water”. 

The Blue Mediterranean Partnership is the partners’ response to the commitments made at EU level to fully integrate the blue economy into the Green Deal, the priorities identified in the new EU Agenda for the Mediterranean, the UfM ministerial declaration on the sustainable blue economy, as well as the environmental challenges facing the Mediterranean region, which have received broad political support, including from the European Commission.

It aims to bring together international donors, recipient countries, financial institutions, and interested charities to support policy reforms, and mobilize public and private funding for projects, initially in Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco.

To achieve these goals, the partnership aims to support and attract investments in a sustainable blue economy and policy reforms, prioritizing innovation, including, where possible, natural capital and nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation and will help finance wastewater treatment and waste management facilities to reduce solid and plastic waste entering the sea, reduce pressure on fisheries through sustainable aquaculture, improve coastal resilience investments, and reduce emissions through sustainable marine mobility.


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