For a cleaner Mediterranean by the year 2020
This initiative is funded by the European Commission through DG EuropeAid.

2nd Meeting of the RMR Sub Group: reporting progress at every step

on 05 May 2011.

More than 40 experts from the Southern Mediterranean and the West Balkans gathered for the second meeting of the RMR Sub Group in Copenhagen in March.  The meeting reviewed the most recent developments of the H2020 Initiative, the results of the ENPI-SEIS consultation meeting in November 2010, and also of the research projects and activities in the Mediterranean. Organised around breakout groups, the sub-group discussed ways to develop a regular reporting process to monitor environmental progress on "depolluting the Mediterranean" with a particular focus on the three H2020 priority issues of urban waste water, municipal waste and industrial emissions. By the end of the meeting a collective view of the next steps to be taken had been developed.

The second meeting of the RMR Sub Group was held on 30-31 March 2011 in Copenhagen in the premises of the European Environment Agency.

It gathered more than 40 experts from the Southern Mediterranean and West Balkan partner countries. This second meeting was strongly embedded in both the H2020 initiative and the ENP Framework through the ENPI-SEIS project 'Towards a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) in the European Neighbourhood'. The meeting was aimed at taking stock of the most recent developments of the H2020 initiative, the results of the ENPI-SEIS consultation meeting held in November 2010, and also of the research projects and activities in the Mediterranean. Organised around breakout groups, the RMR sub-group discussed extensively how to develop a regular reporting process to monitor environmental progress "depolluting the Mediterranean" with a particular focus on the three H2020 priority issues of urban waste water, municipal waste and industrial emissions.

The presentations from the RMR sub-group meeting together with the agenda and list of participants have been uploaded at the H2020 communication portal here. The meeting was very constructive and came out with several practical next steps to be followed in the coming months through country visits and contacts with various stakeholders, aimed at deepening the discussions and further exploring ways of enlarging engagement at a country level. More information as well as a detailed draft report of the meeting will be made available there soon.

The Horizon2020 Initiative

Reaching its closing in 2020, the key achievements of the Initiative include: more investments, strengthened policy and legal frameworks as well as capacities to implement them, improved information and knowledge, enhanced education and awareness, higher priority of pollution reduction and prevention on national, regional and global political agendas (vs depollution) and contribution to setting the path towards green economy in the region.

The Mediterranean Sea is the largest of the semi – enclosed European seas, surrounded by 21 countries that share a coastline of 46,000 km. The region is home to around 480 million people and the environmental challenges it faces are significant. Back in 2006, the ‘Horizon 2020 Initiative’ was launched inviting all committed stakeholders to join efforts in substantially reducing pollution in the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the sources of pollution that are said to account for around 80% of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea: municipal waste, urban waste water and industrial pollution.

Achievements

Investment projects

more than 1.4 billion eur mobilised

People trained

more than 5000 people trained

Common indicators to monitor progress

11 macro-indicators

Final Report of the Horizon 2020 Initiative for a Cleaner Mediterranean: 14 years of Mediterranean Cooperation on Environment

Moving forward with 2030GreenerMed

Taking note of the lessons learned from H2020, a follow-up agenda entitled “Towards 2030: Agenda for a Greener Med – Contributing to Achieving the Environmental SDGs in the Mediterranean” (2030GreenerMed) has been formulated by the UfM. This new agenda will be dedicated to support the urgently needed transition to a more sustainable, green and circular economy in the Mediterranean.

Horizon 2020 Initiative for a Cleaner Mediterranean by year 2020 HD 

Published in 2014 the Horizon 2020 video outlines the efforts and results of the Initiative in different parts of the Mediterranean. Video playtime is 48 minutes and 11 seconds and is available in HD format for high quality viewing. The video can also be found on youtube at https://youtu.be/YTaNbpRerpE

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