A member of MedCities awarded with the Istanbul Award for best sustainable policies: Málaga gains the first prize of the contest

MedCities was present at the 22nd edition of the Barcelona Convention (COP22) held in Antalya from the 7^th to the 11^th of December, in which a member of the association was awarded with the Istanbul awards for best sustainable policies: Málaga. The city of Genoa, was also mentioned as the second city awarded of the prize.

The Secretary General of MedCities, Josep Canals, participated in the meeting and stated, “This encourages to work even harder to better improve the capabilities of our members”.

Canals also insisted that local authorities must be considered as allies to faster achieve the common goals in the protection of the Mediterranean Sea. “It has no sense to speak about waste management or wastewater treatment without including or even mentioning cities and local authorities in the equation. In cities, most of the human activities impact too. So, it is in the cities where we can find solutions and boost restorations”. And added: “It is obvious that cities are part of the states. Cities is where the majority of your citizens live so wouldn’t it be wiser to count on local authorities and give them resources to help them in order to solve the problem from a closer approach where the impacts are created?”, said Canals.

The convention talked about pollution, biodiversity loss, the presence of exotic species and climate change in the Mediterranean and agreed the Antalya Declaration. The Secretary General of MedCities regretted that the councils were not mentioned in Antalya’s final statement or in any draft document.