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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