Marrakesh, 3rd November 2009 – On the opening day of the 16th Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, UNEP/MAP and its regional activities centres (RACs) presented the first State of the Environment and Development (SOED) report covering the Mediterranean region.

The State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean 2009 is a pilot exercise, based on the currently available sources of information and tackling key environmental issues for the Mediterranean region, such as climate change impacts in the Mediterranean region, water scarcity, threats to biodiversity and pollution.

The report covers the 21 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and is divided into 5 sections, where some 100 questions are addressed, mainly:

• How does the climate evolve in the Mediterranean ?
• Are water resources enough in the Mediterranean region ?
• Are Mediterranean marine species threatened?
• Are we making progress towards a reduction of pollution from industrial sources ?
• Is there a problem of eutrophication in the Mediterranean ?

Some key data included in the report:

climate change:

• First signs of climate change happening in the Mediterranean region are an average increase of 2 C degrees in temperatures in South Western Europe during the 20th century, and a 20% decrease in rainfalls.
  
• Temperatures are expected to rise more significantly during the summer, in particular in Spain, North Africa and South East Europe. Extreme phenomena will include heat waves and storms. 

Bodiversity:

• 19% of Mediterranean marine species are threatened, with 1% already extinct on a regional level. 
  
• Of the regional species included in the SPA/RAC list, 63% of fishes and 60% of mammals are threatened.

water resources:

• 20 millions Mediterranean people have no access to improved water sources.
  
• 180 millions inhabitants have less than 1000 m3 water per person/year

Pollution:

• worsening of eutrophication over the past 20 years (Adriatic Sea and Nile Delta) and increase in algae invasion.
  
• oil refining, food packaging and farming activities are responsible for 87% regional emissions of DBO.
  
• reduction of industrial pollution since 2003, and the establishment of National Plan of Actions (NAPs).

The preparation of the SOED 2009 was lead by the Plan Bleu, under the coordination of MAP Secretariat, and involved the joint effort of all MAP regional activities centres.

At the last Meeting of the Contracting Parties in Almeria in January 2008, MAP components were requested to elaborate a State of the Environment report to be presented at the next meeting of the Contracting Parties. Such publication is foreseen to become a regular part of the COP activities scheduled every two years.