ETC-UMA is pleased and honoured to have been awarded the European’s Commission certificate of participation at the EU Green Week 2021 for the organization and leadership in the organization of the online workshop on “Mediterranean pollution, biodiversity and health”. This year’s edition of the EU Green Week, Europe’s most important environmental event, was dedicated to the topic of zero pollution.
The impact of pollution is not always evident, particularly in the marine environment, where marine species and ecosystems encounter increasing amounts of pollution in the form of chemicals, litter, and other substances, all of which are dumped or end up in our waters, likely hidden from our eyesight but with drastic effects on biodiversity and ultimately, on the health of our planet and the people that live on it.
On the 4th of June, Mediterranean initiatives and institutions were invited to showcase evidence on marine pollution impacts on biodiversity and health, as well as the policy frameworks and governance models currently in place, and to debate specific solutions and approaches to successfully achieve the transition towards a zero pollution impact on people and the planet. The agenda of the workshop can be accessed here.
Over 21 international experts with extensive experience gathered to share their knowledge and points of view. Dania Abdul Malak, Director of ETC-UMA and lead partner in the Interreg Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community, presented the MedBioLitter knowledgebase, that gathers the available evidence on marine litter impacts on biodiversity in the Mediterranean. Cooperation and sharing knowledge is essential if we want to protect our health and the Mediterranean sea from marine litter.
ETC-UMA is grateful for everyone’s participation and the event is recorded for those who could not join us. Here is the link for you to watch and find out what we talked about and learnt to tackle marine litter. The workshop report with main conclusions will be published very soon.
You want to learn more about marine litter and protected areas, the next event will take place at the end of June as an online training workshop. You can visit the MBPC website to follow up on this and other activities.
Meet the EU Green Week 2021 Mediterranean Workshop speakers
Explore the MedBioLitter data viewer
ETC-UMA in the EU Green Week 2020: Healthy wetlands: our best natural answer to biodiversity, water and climate crisis. The Mediterranean case.