Members of parliaments play a pivotal role in transposing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) into enforceable national law. The freshly published "Parliamentarian’s guide to protecting the Mediterranean Sea and coast" is aimed at members of parliament serving in the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the protection of the marine environment and the coastal region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), namely 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Union.
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This new publication is the product of a collaboration between the Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP (UNEP/MAP) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM). In the joint foreword, Tatjana Hema, the UNEP/MAP Coordinator, and Sergio Piazzi, the Secretary general of PAM, wrote: “our hope is that parliamentarians, parliamentary staff and everyone involved in parliamentary processes will find this publication useful. As a longstanding partner of UNEP/MAP, PAM shall disseminate this publication and promote its use by its Member States.”
Conducting parliamentary work on themes falling within the ambit of the Convention requires a careful analysis of national obligations with the support of subject matter experts. In many instances, this task can be daunting, time-consuming and, considering the typically copious agenda and tight schedule of parliamentarians, potentially overwhelming. To address these concerns, the Guide was conceived as a handbook combining an analytical summary of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system’s literature and select elements of the mandatory reporting obligations, with a desk review on parliamentary processes, building on relevant UNEP publications and PAM expertise.
The publication consists of two parts. The first expounds the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system’s legal and institutional dimensions, offering essential information with resources for further research. The second part provides an assortment of steps that parliamentarians can take as part of their core functions. The non-prescriptive recommendations on offer are designed to serve as nudges, tips and catalyzers of deeper reflections and advanced endeavors led by parliamentarians around the Mediterranean.
The Guide packages an attempt at fostering parliamentary engagement for stronger enforcement of, and compliance with, the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols—leading to Good Environmental Status of the Mediterranean Sea and coast.
Learn more:
The Parliamentarian’s guide to protecting the Mediterranean Sea and coast
A handbook for members of parliaments serving in the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols
ISBN: 978-92-807-4115-5
