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At the 16th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission of Sustainable Development (MCSD) that was hosted by the Moroccan Government in collaboration with the Secretariat to Barcelona Convention/Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) and Plan Bleu in Marrakech (9-11 June 2015), MIO-ECSDE was elected on its Steering Committee as Rapporteur for the next 2 years, representing the NGO members of the Commission. The President of the MCSD Steering Group is Morocco, while the Vice presidents are: Malta, Croatia, MedCities, CEDARE and Turkey as President of the Barcelona Convention (till February 2016 when Greece will take over).
Apart from elections, the 16th meeting tackled a heavy agenda that included the finalization of the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable Development (MSSD) 2016-2020. After more than 1 year of several drafts and a lengthy participatory and consultative process under the Maltese Presidency of the MCSD, the revised MSSD is ready to be submitted for endorsement by the MAP Focal Points meeting in October and from there for the consideration and adoption by the 19th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP 19) that will take place next February (2016).
Other achievements of the meeting were: agreement on the way forward in the reform process of the MCSD along with a simplified peer review process for sustainable development in the Mediterranean; provision of recommendations on the Draft Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Action Plan for the Mediterranean, including the corresponding Roadmap, as well as for the Draft Regional Framework on Climate Change Adaptation for the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Areas. All of the documents are to be submitted for endorsement by the MAP Focal Points meeting in October and then to COP 19.
Read more about the MSSD review process