MEPIELAN E-Bulletin is a digital academic and practitioner newsletter of the MEPIELAN Centre, launched in 2010. It features insight articles, reflective opinions, specially selected documents and cases, book reviews as well as news on thematic topics of direct interest of MEPIELAN Centre and on the activities and role of MEPIELAN Centre. Its content bridges theory and practice perspectives of relational international law, international environmental law and participatory governance , and international negotiating process, thus serving the primary goal of Centre: to develop an integrated, inter-disciplinary, relational, context-related and sustainably effective governance approach creating, protecting and advancing international common interest for the present and future generations. Providing a knowledge- and information-sharing platform and a scholarly forum, the Bulletin promotes innovative ideas and enlightened critical views, contributing to a broader scholarly debate on important issues of international common interest. The audience of the Bulletin includes academics, practitioners, researchers, university students, international lawyers, officials and personnel of international organizations and institutional arrangements, heads and personnel of national authorities at all levels (national, regional and local), and members of the civil society at large.
MEPIELAN Centre participates in the 21st Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (Naples, Italy, 2-5 December 2019) and its Director is elected as a Member of the Compliance Committee
December 2, 2019
COP 21, convened by the UNEP/MAP Secretariat, was attended by Ministers and senior officials representing all Contracting Parties – 21 Mediterranean States and the European Union. More than 300 registered participants, including civil society and intergovernmental organizations, took part in the negotiations. Youth representatives addressed the COP Ministerial Segment for the first time and representatives of the scientific community, civil society, local authorities and the private sector took part in a High-Level Panel and several side-events that made COP 21 an inclusive and fertile ground for forward-looking ideas, proposals and actions.
Fourteen thematic decisions related to pollution and marine litter, biodiversity and marine protected areas, blue economy and integrated coastal zone management were adopted by the Contracting Parties, including a groundbreaking roadmap for the proposal of a possible designation of the Mediterranean as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides. The Contracting Parties adopted the Naples Ministerial Declaration that “encapsulates an eloquent expression of political support to the UNEP/MAP—Barcelona Convention system’s role, achievements and plans in responding to the pressing environmental challenges facing the Mediterranean region” as stated by the UNEP/MAP Coordinator Mr. Gaetano Leone. COP 21 also marked the starting point of a new biennium that will focus on implementation and on the preparation of new strategic documents to guide our work in the future, including an action-oriented Medium-Term Strategy for the 2022-2027 period.
Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos, Director of MEPIELAN Centre, addressing the COP 21 Ministerial Policy Review Session, made a statement, laying emphasis on the need for innovation to support transition towards better environmental and sustainability governance, more effective legal approaches oriented to trusteeship for addressing the current legal gaps, and better, structured ways for strengthening the culture and practice of consensus-building, dialogue and communication between and among all participants.
By Decision IG.24/1, entitled “Compliance Committee”, adopted by the 21st Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols (COP 21) (Naples, Italy, 2-5 December 2019), Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos was elected as a Member of the Compliance Committee of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. The Compliance Committee consists of seven Members elected by the Meeting of the Contracting Parties from a list of candidates nominated by the Contracting Parties. “Nominated candidates are persons of recognized competence in the matters dealt with by the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols and in relevant scientific, technical, socio-economic, legal or other fields” and “the elected Members serve in their individual capacities and act objectively in the interests of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols” (Rules of Procedure of the Compliance Committee, s. II, 3.8.9.11). The Compliance Committee was established in 2008 by COP 15 (Almeria, Spain, 15-18 January 2008) and its objective is “to facilitate and promote compliance with the obligations under the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, taking into account the specific situation of each Contracting Party, in particular those, which are developing countries” (Decision IG.17/2 “Procedures and Mechanisms on Compliance under the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols” as amended by COP Decisions IG.20/1 and 21/1).
MEPIELAN Centre is an international research, training and educational centre established by Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos at the Panteion University of Athens in 2008.
Before its establishment as a University Centre, MEPIELAN operated as a successful international research, training and informational programme (2002-2007) under the scientific direction of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos and the aegis of the Panteion University of Athens, supported by the Mediterranean Action Plan/UNEP and the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works.
MEPIELAN Centre is an accredited UNEP/MAP PARTNER (since 2013), a Member of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) (since 2016), and a Member of the Steering Committee of the MCSD (since 2019).
On 22 May 2022, MEPIELAN Centre proceeded to the development of MEPIELAN as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) for the more effective and efficient advancement of its Goals and Missions and furtherance of its activities. MEPIELAN Centre as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) is registered in Greek Law (Hellenic Business Registry, Reg. No. 16477300100) in accordance with Laws 4072/2012 & 4919/2022 as applicable
A first ever Regional Training dedicated to the Promotion of the Aarhus Convention in the whole of the Mediterranean was co-organized by the EU funded “Water and Environment Support (WES) in the ENI Neighbourhood South Region” project and the UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat, in Athens, Greece, on the 14th and 15th of November 2023.
The 2023 Annual Meeting of Aarhus Centres, organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) in close collaboration with the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of Tajikistan was was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and virtually on 17 and 18 October 2023.
