COP22 declares final decisions following summit in Turkish resort city Antalya

ANKARA

The countries of a convention designed to protect the Mediterranean Sea from pollution published its final declaration on Saturday.

The declaration came after the 22nd meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP22) that ended on Friday in the city of Antalya on the southern Turkish coast.

In the declaration, it was decided to designate the whole Mediterranean as an "Emission Control Area for Sulfur Oxides" and to submit this decision to the International Maritime Organization by mid-2022.

The decision to establish an International Negotiating Committee with a legally binding and global agreement mandate for the effective implementation of the Marine Litter Management Regional Plan in the Mediterranean was also included in the final decisions.

The convention agreed to step up efforts to protect and conserve threatened or endangered species as well.

It renewed its commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development goals in order to leave a "prosperous legacy" to future generations with "a healthy, clean, sustainable and climate-resilient Mediterranean and coastline with productive and biodiverse marine and coastal ecosystems."

The summit constitutes a multilateral legal framework for the protection of the marine and coastal environment and the sustainable use of resources in the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the UN Environment Program (UNEP/MAP) is a regional cooperation platform established as the first regional action plan under the UNEP Regional Seas Program.

Although the Mediterranean Sea constitutes just 1% of the world's ocean area, it is home to 4%-18% of the world's known marine species.

In 1975, 16 Mediterranean countries and the European Community adopted MAP, and Turkey became a party to the convention in 1982.

The COP 22 logo features the loggerhead turtle – known to scientists as Caretta caretta – an iconic symbol of biological diversity in the Mediterranean.

Mediterranean loggerhead turtles are affected by marine litter and warming air and seawater. Their plight encapsulates the stark threats posed in the region by the triple crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.

The loggerhead turtle can be found throughout the basin, but its nesting is concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean, including in sites located in Antalya, the summit's host city.

*Writing By Beyza Binnur Donmez