MedCities participated by giving some inputs to the UfM Blue economy Stakeholders Community call through the on-line consultation held between the 11th and 25th of March, 2020.

MedCities, through its General Secretariat, shared its position on the transversal issue of governance for the Blue Economy agenda stressing the urgency of apply an ecosystem based approach and the precautionary principle over the “growth” objectives. We also prioritised the need to strongly engage local authorities as key stakeholders in the process.

We equally provided suggestions, based on our experience, for the development some of the sectors and priorities subject to consultation including the following:

· Sustainable food from the sea: including our learnings so far from the Interreg MED BLUEFASMA project on circular economy and the co-management experience of Catalonia and the European Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs)

· Sustainable marine transport: strongly supporting , among others, the roadmap agreed at UNEP MAP Cop 21 for the possible designation of the Mediterranean as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides in line with the terms of Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

· Sustainable tourism: with a focus on recommendations on how to swift the Mediterranean into a sustainable destination, including our experience in the Interreg Med Project INCIRCLE in which MedCities participates together with member cities as Palma (Balearic Islands) and Larnaka (Cyprus)

· Adaptation to climate change: calling attention to land and sea interactions and the need to protect and restore coastal and marine ecosystems, further explore nature based solutions to coastal protection as well as to give a stronger role to coastal cities in the protection of their coastline applying ICZM principles.

· Marine litter: addressing especially land based sources of pollution and the need to further develop the extended producer responsibility and polluters pay principles. Applying or enhancing solid and waste water management systems is still a pending challenge Mediterranean wide. We shared our experience co-leading the marine litter working group of the Interreg Med Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community and the latest publication on marine litter impacts.

You can find MedCities and other about 100 institutions inputs in English and French here