The Mediterranean region is facing significant challenges from climate change, including rising temperatures, pollution, non-indigenous species, and unsustainable land and sea use practices.
The urgent need to adapt to these changes and mitigate the drivers of climate change has led to a call to action at COP27. One actor working towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in the region is the Interreg MED Green and Blue Communities. These communities are focused on creating a low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive economic model.
The Green Growth Community has been working towards circular economy practices by supporting local and regional authorities and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, the Interreg MED Blue Growth Community is advancing towards a blue economy in the Mediterranean. The growing sector of aquaculture presents many opportunities for low environmental-impact food production, with both communities highlighting the interlinkage between green and blue economies, aiming for a resource-efficient model towards a circular economy.
Policymakers play an essential role in setting the scene for a transition towards a sustainable and circular economy, and policy and financing are two cornerstones for climate change adaptation. The Interreg Euro-MED program will continue to fund regional and local cooperation in research, innovation, and knowledge transfer, with a new group of projects starting in January 2023. The Green and Blue Growth communities will leverage their lessons learned during the past six years to work in the Thematic Community governance project, under the strengthening of an innovative sustainable economy mission. With continued research and funding, the transition towards a sustainable and circular economy in the Mediterranean will increase local communities’ resilience to climate change’s impacts.
Read the article published by Marta Castillo Sánchez, Correspondent at REVOLVE https://revolve.media/the-mediterraneans-green-and-blue-economy/
