MEPIELAN Centre, represented by its Director, participated in the prestigious 9th Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference (Nicosia, Cyprus 5-7 October 2022) organized by the Republic of Cyprus with the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) which provides the secretariat for the Environment for Europe process. The 9th Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference has taken for the first time in the Mediterranean region and attracted some 1000 participants from the Ministries of Education and Environment from more than 70 countries, including representatives form international organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and businesses. Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos was personally invited, as well as MEPIELAN Centre, by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment of the Cyprus Republic, and, on 7 October, he participated as a key expert speaker in the Side Event “Environmental Governance for Transforming our Planet – Promoting the Aarhus Convention in the whole of the Mediterranean Region” where he presented an Overview of the Foundation Discussion Document for the Mediterranean Accession Agenda to the Aarhus Convention, the product of the research component of the Aarhus Project prepared by MEPIELAN Centre (see MEPIELAN Centre Website >> Publications >> Foundational Documents).
In his PP presentation, Professor Raftopoulos illustrated the strong governance structure and the prolific decisional process of the Aarhus Convention as a regime of international common interest and unfolded the multitude of international interlinkages and capacity building processes of the Aarhus Convention that shape up a determinative role for Parties and stakeholders in advancing sustainability governance. He finally proposed the pursuance of “multilateralism complementing individualism in the accession process” with the aim to deliver a political declaration of Mediterranean accession that would demonstrate the determination of the Southern Mediterranean States to expand the Aarhus Convention in the Mediterranean region.
The Co-organizers of the Side Event were:
- The Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMSUD)
- The House of Representatives of Cyprus
- The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM)
- The Mediterranean Action Plan – Barcelona Convention Secretariat (UNEP/MAP)
- The UNECE, Aarhus Convention Secretariat
- The Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN Centre)
- The Mediterranean Information Office foe Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO/ECSDE)
- The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
(See also MEPIELAN Centre Website >>Activities >> Conferences and Meetings)
About the author
MEPIELAN Centre
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
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