A dialogue the human security implications of climate change in the Mediterranean
Climate change is a threat multiplier in the Mediterranean region, posing pressing challenges to food and water security, generating economic hardship, displacements, and human suffering. In the lead-up to the COP27 in Egypt, the Med Dialogues +2030 organised a conference to highlight the human security implications of climate change in the Mediterranean, thus making the case for increased commitments and accelerated actions against climate change to be taken at the COP27.
The dialogue took place at the Sala d’Actes of the CaixaForum Macaya, with the participation of Mohamed Behnassi, Senior Environmentalist expert (Morocco). He is the founding Director of the Center for Environment, Human Security and Governance (CERES), and a contributor to the Economic Social and Environmental Council (ESEC). He was also a Lead Author of the Human Security Chapter of the 1st Assessment Report (MAR1), and he is currently an author of two of MedECC’s Special Reports (Climate-food-water-energy-ecosystems nexus and Environmental change, conflict and human migration).
The session was introduced and moderated by Arnau Queralt i Bassa, Director of the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (CADS). He is also a member of the Steering Committee of MedECC and currently involved as an author of the Special Report on Climate-food-water-energy-ecosystems nexus.
Med Dialogues +2030: Ideas for a Sustainable Mediterranean
The Med Dialogues +2030 is an annual conference series organised and promoted by the European Institute of the Mediterranean, the Barcelona Office of the Club of Rome, and “la Caixa” Foundation, which fosters debate on sustainable development issues in the Mediterranean region. By giving voice to renowned experts and actors from both shores of the Mediterranean Sea and a variety of backgrounds, the Med Dialogues +2030 seek to raise greater awareness and understanding of the critical sustainability challenges faced by Mediterranean countries.
Launched in 2021 as the region was entering the “Decade of Action”, the Med Dialogues +2030 adopts each year a different approach to the implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), putting forward analyses and recommendations to contribute to building a more resilient, sustainable, prosperous, inclusive, and safer Mediterranean region by 2030.
The Second Edition (2022) “A Human Security Approach to the 2030 Agenda: Achieving Freedom from Fear, Want and Indignity in the Mediterranean” tackles the current and most serious threats to human security that hamper progress towards the effective delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or could even lead to severe development setbacks in the Mediterranean region. Consequently, the different sessions of the conference series not only analyse these regional challenges but elaborate on comprehensive solutions, integrated actions and cooperation opportunities that contribute to protect and free all Mediterranean people from poverty, hunger, exclusion, violence, and disease, ensuring that no one is left behind.
