1. The geographical location of the Mediterranean region, between temperate Europe, subtropical Africa and the arid Middle East, has given it rich and varied marine and land ecosystems, which its millennial civilisations have rendered fragile and placed in precarious equilibrium. Uninterrupted human settlement for over three millennia has weighed heavily on the region’s natural resources and environment. The serious incursions of agriculture, pastoralism and fisheries have debilitated its land, water, natural vegetation and sea resources and exposed them to the process of degradation. Urban development (70% urban population), industrial growth (over 10% of world industrial value added), the expansion of metropolitan areas and port activities and intense maritime movement (30% of global oil shipments) have deeply scarred the environment. Large quantities of chemical and biological pollutants, in solid, liquid and gas form have built up over the last two hundred years, altering ecosystems and debasing environmental conditions and quality of life.

2. The gradual build-up of ecological and environmental problems, the growing awareness of the critical state of their ecosystems and of the need to join forces, spurred the Mediterranean countries to launch the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) in 1975. Considered an umbrella programme for regional cooperation, the MAP was consolidated by the Barcellona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution (1976) and five specific protocols, one dealing with biodiversity. National and regional actions pursued under this programme have shed light on the state of natural resources and the environment, and have boosted environmental policies and programmes in each country.

3. The MAP, the convention and its related protocols were refined and updated two years ago to reflect the recommendations of UNCED and the conventions signed at Rio. The region now has a programme of action for sustainable development, a Mediterranean "Agenda 21" and a Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD). MAP phase II and the MCSD concentrate mainly on the causes of climate change, the control of desertification and the sustainable management of biodiversity, for which a MAP regional activity centre has been set up in Tunis.

4. This is the context for the implementation of the global conventions on climate change (FCCC), biodiversity (CBD) and desertification control (CCD) in the Mediterranean region: actions of regional scope that are supported and consolidated by national and local policies and initiatives.

5. The ultimate objective of the Convention on Climate Change, to which almost all the Mediterranean countries adhere, is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level below a potentially dangerous man-made disruption of the climate system. According to the OECD, energy-based activities account for over half (sometimes almost all) the pollutants in the air and atmosphere that accentuate the greenhouse effect - the prime cause of climate change. Examination of energy consumption and production, on the one hand, and of proven or potential resources, on the other, reveal a basic spatial differentiation, with heavier consumption in the northern Mediterranean and greater production in the south and east. Consumption patterns also differ, on account of relative industrial and transport development and the nature of the housing and services sector; heating costs are obviously lower on the southern side. For the region as a whole, total annual consumption of commercial energy (oil, gas, coal) rose from about 100 Million Ton Oil Equivalent (Mtoe) (6% of world consumption) in 1950 to 400 Mtoe in 1970 (7.8% of world consumption), and then to 700 Mtoe in the 1990s (8.4% of world consumption). The total consumption of commercial energy only rose by an average 2.13% per year in the northern countries between 1971 and 1990 (from 361 to 550 Mtoe) against 6.61%, three times more, in the southern and eastern countries (from 40 to 144 Mtoe). However, the difference in per capita consumption between north and south still remains high: 4016 Kilo Oil Equivalent (Koe) per inhabitant in France and 2378 Koe in Greece in 1990, against 601 Koe in Egypt and 267 Koe in Morocco.

6. Apart from these quantitative differences, there are also marked differences in consumption structure: coal still accounts for 15-20% of fuel consumption in the northern countries, while oil remains the primary source of energy on both sides (over 50% of consumption) despite efforts to reduce its share in the North. Fuels harmful to the atmosphere and environment therefore still account for a large share of the energy-for-development equation in the Mediterranean. The countries of the region combined release almost 1 500 000 tons of CO₂ per year, compared to some 5 000 000 T, 650 000 T and 2 300 000T in the United States, India and China respectively. Average per capita emission of CO₂ in the Mediterranean countries is similar to the world average: 7.5 tons in Italy, France and Greece; 5.5 tons in Spain and Malta, and less than 2 tons in each of the southern countries with the exception of Libya and Israel which exceed 8 tons. As for methane, a recent study (Alphatania Group, 1989) estimates that the Mediterranean countries account for 5-6 % of global emission, around 50 million tons.

7. The Mediterranean region’s share of emissions of CO₂, methane, nitrogen oxides and other industrial gases, such as CFCs, is modest in global terms despite its rapid rise in consumption of fuels damaging to climate. Nevertheless, fall out in the form of global warming could be high. Studies conducted by the MAP since 1987 on the possible impacts of climate change scenarios on the region as a whole and on the more vulnerable zones have demonstrated the probable scale of impact on marine areas, coastal zones, land and water resources, ecosystems and agriculture. The study highlights possible changes in sea flow dynamics, bringing frequent anaerobic conditions to bays and a significant rise in sea level, which in turn will lead to loss of beach, lowland flooding, saline upwelling and direct damage to harbours, towns, roads and resorts. The study estimates that a 1-metre rise in sea level would require defence works valued at over 20 000 million dollars on the northern side and almost 15 000 million dollars on the southern side. Warming would deeply affect aquatic ecosystems and conditions for fish stocks. Even an increase of only 1°C could have strong negative repercussions on fish stocks because of changes in water oxygen levels and chemical composition. Modifications to seasonal rainfall patterns could affect the natural vegetation and the distribution of the leading rainfed crops.

8. Uncertainties over all these possible consequences and their geographical distribution are far greater than uncertainties over the greenhouse effect itself. Specific studies on vulnerable areas (main river deltas, bays and gulfs) have helped assess the scale of foreseeable consequences and the dimension of the long-term countermeasures needed.

9. Besides the MAP studies on climate change and its impact on the environment and development, the countries of the region have also taken individual, bilateral or multilateral measures and actions to implement the FCCC.

10. At regional and sub-regional level, studies on sources of greenhouse gas emission are underway within the framework of projects co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). These studies will enable the southern Mediterranean countries to formulate medium-term energy strategies and devise ways of absorbing or reducing greenhouse gases. Chapter 9 of "Agenda Med 21" defines actions and objectives to improve the management and consumption of energy sources and to safeguard the air and atmosphere more effectively against pollution. Keen to play a lead role in the implementation of this Convention, the EU countries have pledged to peg, by the year 2000¸ carbon gas emissions to the 1990 level (2.3 tons of carbon per European per year). An ecotax has been introduced to reinforce the directives of the Council and Commission of the European Communities, thus introducing dual taxation - on energy in general, and carbon dioxide emission in particular. Application of this European policy is conditional upon a similar policy being adopted by the other OECD countries.

11. At national level, most Mediterranean countries have introduced concrete measures to rationalise energy consumption and better protect the atmosphere. Several countries have adopted energy-saving policies that are based on the regulated consumption of commercial energy and the promotion of renewable forms of energy (solar and wind). The eastern Mediterranean countries and Egypt have put structures in place to implement energy saving and control programmes. These have promoted the transfer of clean technologies for more efficient energy use and, in so doing, have brought about a genuine reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels, while managing at the same time to satisfy the growing energy requirements of the industrial sector. The Mediterranean region as a whole has made good progress in developing technology for heating water by means of solar energy.

12. This brief overview of climate change in the Mediterranean shows that there are opportunities in the region for concerted implementation of the FCCC, founded on cooperation and partnership between North and South, for both sides are implicated, albeit in different ways, in the global warning process.

13. Relics of natural systems that possessed a richer array of species, Mediterranean ecosystems have many special characteristics, largely determined on land by the prevailing condition of aridity. At the same time, the many narrow coastal strips, sandwiched between mountain and sea, have carved a host of ecological niches that have a wide variety of plant and animal life, evolving in different ways and giving the Mediterranean its exceptional biological diversity and its wealth of endemic species: 25 000 higher plant species (phanerogams), a large number of endemic vertebrates, insects and other invertebrates and the rich flora and fauna around the Mediterranean Sea give this region its superb biotic community. The Mediterranean’s extensive biodiversity and its characteristic endemism paradoxically make this region one of the most vulnerable of the biosphere - all the more so from being increasingly exposed to human-induced change. Population pressure, galloping urbanisation, accelerated industrialisation, expanding tourism and intensive farming are all hastening the colonisation of natural land areas and the ensuing degradation of ecosystems. The Blue Plan estimates that 4 400 km² of natural Mediterranean coastal landscape in three north-western countries of the region have been given over solely to developing tourism. Industrialisation on the sea edge and the proliferation of power plants result in indirect physical destruction through the pollution of many types of coastal ecosystem (Adriatic, Gulf of Gabes, etc..). The increased use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers for rapidly expanding intensive farming affects the ecosystems and their fragile equilibrium. Though less obvious, the use of phytocides and fertilisers insidiously depletes the flora, especially the many species of ruderal and segetal plant life that abound in the Mediterranean Basin.

14. There is a pressing need therefore to safeguard what natural biological resources are left. This was recognised by the countries of the region in 1985 when they set up a Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA). The activities of the centre have enhanced understanding of species dynamics, ecology and habitat, which is essential for the effective in-situ and ex-situ protection of biodiversity in this region under rapid economic, urban and demographic expansion.

15. Efforts to date have led to the protection of 200 natural areas, of 50 hectares or more, in 14 Mediterranean countries. There are five major categories of protected area, ranging from integrated natural area to regional nature park, and including biosphere reserve and world heritage site.

16. There are also a few dozen smaller reserves and other areas with a degree of protection. The total protected area in the Mediterranean would therefore amount to some 2.5 million hectares, which is barely 1% of the total Mediterranean inland and coastal ecosystem area. This includes some sixty national parks covering approximately 700 000 hectares and an indeterminate number of "Paper Parks" where protection is essentially administrative. The Mediterranean region is therefore a long way from the IUCN norm of at least 10% of a region’s total area being classified as protected land.

17. It was with this norm in mind that the countries of the Mediterranean revised and updated the Protocol concerning Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas and stepped up actions for the protection of biodiversity under MAP phase II. Such action is fully in line with implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

18. Parallel to these efforts and within the framework of the GEF, national and sub-regional (Maghreb countries, Middle East) strategies for the sustainable management of biodiversity are being drawn up from detailed national inventories. Gene and seed banks are beginning to be set up in the southern Mediterranean countries for the ex-situ conservation of endemic flora species. For some years, a number of countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey) have also been pursuing proactive policies in which national parks and biosphere reserves are viewed as educational resources to be used to promote environmental awareness, especially among the young.

19. In spite of all these achievements, implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity still requires considerable effort to protect areas of outstanding ecological interest and guarantee the conservation of this region’s exceptional biodiversity for the benefit of future generations.

20. Desertification has become a serious problem in the Mediterranean, following the development of agriculture and stockfarming on land that has been increasingly exposed to physical and chemical degradation brought on by inappropriate farming practices, overgrazing and, notably, deforestation and forest fires. The latter factor is particularly relevant to the countries of the European Mediterranean. The problem of development and desertification raises a paradox: crop- and rangeland, with its fragile low-fertility soils, marginal economic value, water and wind erosion, and salinization, will have to produce twice as much to meet the needs of an ever-growing population. Current pressures from agricultural and pastoral activity have left clear imprints of desertification. What, then, is to become of this land with increased pressures and incursions to meet population needs? This is the perspective in which desertification has to be addressed in the Mediterranean, particularly on the southern side.

21. While desertification is a real problem for sustainable development in the South because of its aridity and population explosion, it is less serious on the European side, where the phenomenon has, in recent years, assumed a political and social dimension far outweighing the ecological and environmental considerations. In the southern Mediterranean, over 70% of crop- and rangeland are affected by desertification which increases in intensity in proportion to rate of land clearing and increase in livestock population. The consequences of desertification for the rural world and its resource-poor peasant economy are declining socio-economic conditions and occasional pockets of poverty. In the north, desertification only affects the semi-arid areas that predominate in southern Spain and Italy. In Spain, 13 million hectares are prone to heavy erosion and soil loss is significant on 53% of the territory, mainly in the south-east. In Turkey, 78% of Mediterranean cropland is exposed to sometimes serious erosion, resulting in loss of biodiversity. The main causes of desertification in Mediterranean Europe are intensive cropping and inappropriate farming practices, forest fires, tourism and its high demand for potable water in summer, increase in second homes and a concomitant need to water gardens and golf courses.

22. Given its importance - particularly on the southern side - the control of desertification has been a constant component of agricultural development policies for several decades. It has been carefully studied in North Africa where countries have acquired considerable expertise from the many successful control projects that have been implemented. FAO has played an important role in the programmes for the control of desertification and the rational management of forests and rangeland. Many forest conservation and/or management, food security and land-use management projects contribute towards combating desertification, even though this may not be an explicit objective. The control of desertification is a key component of the Mediterranean Forest Action Programme launched in 1994 and Silva Mediterranea has established a research network on multi-purpose species whose findings will be of considerable relevance to the implementation of the Convention. National control strategies, based on greater understanding of the desertification process, training in dry farming, promotion of traditional techniques and integration of curative and preventive practices in rural development programmes have been formulated and applied in most of these countries through national initiatives backed by bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The wealth of experience gained in these countries should facilitate implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification.

23. The CCD covers the Mediterranean through three of its annexes: the African annex for the countries of North Africa; the Mediterranean annex for the European countries; and the Asian annex for the countries of the Near East. The convention is implemented on three levels: regional, sub-regional and national.

24. At regional level, the control of desertification and the promotion of rainfed agriculture feature among the MAP phase II sustainable development priorities defined in Chapter 12 of "Agenda Med 21". Implementation of the recommended actions that reinforce initiatives to control erosion is still awaiting ratification by the countries of the Barcellona Convention, expected in late 1997.

25. At sub-regional level, the Arab Maghreb Union has made great efforts to formulate a sub-regional programme of action to control desertification. This programme, which sets out to consolidate the outputs of the sub-regional Green Belt Project, envisages: (i) the establishment of a Maghreb centre of strategic studies for the development of arid regions and an operational coordinating structure for the control of desertification; (ii) the development of a regional network of continuous ecosystem monitoring; (iii) the preparation of comprehensive plans to control the effects of drought; and (iv) pilot actions to control desertification in the Maghreb arid ecosystems and an integrated cross-border development programme.

26. In respect of the European countries, the European Parliament has put forward an exhaustive list of operations including implementation of specific actions, the circulation of information, the drafting of a community policy on soil protection, the coordination of related scientific research, the promotion of traditional agricultural production and the control of forest fires. Several related programmes have been identified to this end, including EPOCH (European Programme on Climate and Natural Hazards), which comprises a long series of projects, such as MEDALUS (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use), EFEDA (ECHIVAL Field Experimentation in a Desertification Threatened Area - where ECHIVAL is the European Climate and Hydrological Project on Interactions between Vegetation, Atmosphere and Land) and DEVSDMC (Drought Effects on Vegetation and Soil Degradation in Mediterranean Countries). The fourth programme adopted in April 1994, which covers all community activities related to research, technological development and demonstration and which comprises a long series of projects for the control of desertification, is another element in Europe’s efforts to implement the convention in the European Mediterranean countries.

27. At national level, countries such as Tunisia have already developed their National Action programme (NAP) to implement the convention according to the recommendations in the African annex. Tunisia’s NAP is founded on the integration of control and development, adopting a participatory approach that draws from local know-how and from partnership with all parties concerned with sustainable development in areas affected by desertification. The actions conducted by Tunisia ,which include a ten-year forestry plan, a ten-year soil and water conservation strategy and integrated local development projects, receive financial support from a number of development partners, including Germany and the European Union.

28. This overview has shown that implementation of the three conventions in the context of the Mediterranean region serves to reinforce and supplement initiatives and actions that have already been set up at both national and regional level (MAP). However, the Mediterranean may be able endow these conventions with the benefits of past experience, for the environment is a concern of relatively long standing in the region.

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