The President of EMEA, Prof. Rym Ayadi, Professor at the Bayes Business School (Former CASS) of the City University of London, and Senior Advisor at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) was one of the keynote speakers of the 2nd Annual Stocktaking Meeting of the GEF-UNEP Mediterranean Sea Programme , which was held at Podgorica, Montenegro from 22 to 24 April 2024.
The meeting was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme – Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP) in the framework of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Mediterranean Sea Programme (MedProgramme): “Enhancing Environmental Security” (GEF ID 9607), in cooperation with the implementing agencies UNEP and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the executing partners of the MedProgramme’s eight (8) Child Projects.
At the first Session of the meeting, Prof. Rym Ayadi delivered the keynote speech “Financing climate adaptation”. In her speech she emphasized:
“An effective strategy to address climate change requires an integrated approach where financing adaptation incorporates nature-based solutions. By investing in the health of ecosystems, putting nature at the center, we not only protect our environment but also build a more resilient foundation for communities to thrive in the face of climate risks. The key to achieving this lies in developing robust financing policies regulations and mechanisms. These aim to secure stable finance that supports both the conservation of nature and the adaptation measures needed to preserve nature capital and to combat climate change impacts.”
The MedProgramme Sea Programme (MedProgramme) is part of UNEP’s Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and represents the first Global Environment Facility (GEF) programmatic multi-focal area initiative in the Mediterranean Sea, aiming specifically at operationalizing priority actions to reduce major transboundary environmental stresses in its coastal areas, while strengthening, at the same time, climate resilience and water security, and improving the health and livelihoods of coastal populations. The MedProgramme is implemented in ten (10) beneficiary countries sharing the Mediterranean basin, i.e.: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye. It involves a wide spectrum of developmental and societal sectors, ranging from banking institutions, private sector, governmental and non-governmental bodies, industry, research, media, and various other organizations.
The 2nd Annual Stocktaking Meeting of the GEF-UNEP Mediterranean Sea Programme brought together representatives of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, MedProgramme’s implementing and executing agencies, representatives of the GEF Secretariat, relevant regional and global NGOs, bilateral and multi-lateral donors and International Financing Institutions.
The Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA has been admitted as a partner organization by the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP), according to COP 23 Decision IG.26/2 (Annex III).
