The 17th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) held in Athens from 4 to 6 July 2017 was very successful and confirmed the important role of MCSD in the MAP system as a forum for discussion and advancement of sustainable development issues in the Mediterranean region.
In particular, the 17th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development:
- renewed the commitment of the Members to the implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016-2025,
- welcomed with deep interest the outcome of the first edition of the Simplified Peer Review Mechanism of National Strategies for Sustainable Development, which had involved France, Montenegro and Morocco. It recommended to further develop this innovative tool, with a view to enhancing the interlinkages with the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs and the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) presented at the High Level Policy Forum (HLPF),
- agreed on a preliminary list of relevant indicators for the Mediterranean Sustainable Development Dashboard. The MCSD considered this list as a living document to be periodically assessed and updated, in synergy with the on-going work for the development of SDG indicators and implementation at national level. Giving priority to coast and sea related issues, those indicators should be populated with existing sources of information and reliable data, in partnership with relevant stakeholders for the development or refining of statistical databases,
- expressed the need for a Foresight Study on the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean region at the horizon 2050, arguing that objectives for 2025 are very close, and requested the Secretariat to submit the MED2050 Roadmap for inclusion in the MAP Programme of Work 2018-2019 and submission to the Contracting Parties for consideration and possible endorsement.
