Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a global objective that aims to respond to the needs of current generations without compromising the abilities of future generations to meet their own needs. The Millennium Development Goals, approved by 189 countries in September 2000, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, adopted in 2002 by the World Summit on Sustainable Development, emphasize the urgent need for greater commitment to reduce inequalities and assist in the development of poor countries.

The 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Community decided, at the 12th Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (Monaco, November 2001), in line with the WSSD process, to prepare a “Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development” (MSSD). They requested the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) of the Mediter-ranean Action Plan (MAP) to develop a draft of the Strategy. The 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Environment (Athens, July 2002) endorsed this initiative.

The Mediterranean Strategy is a framework strategy. Its purpose is to adapt international commitments to regional conditions, to guide national sustainable development strategies and to initiate a dynamic partnership between countries at different levels of development