WestMED highlights the power of regional cooperation at Our Ocean Conference 2024

On 16 April 2024, The WestMED Asistance Mechanism organised a side-event at the 9^th edition of the Our Ocean Conference in Athens, Greece.

Attendance to the Conference was by invitation only; extended to representatives from countries, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, academia, philanthropists, and the private sector, all of whom demonstrate a dedicated commitment to the protection of the ocean.

During the conference, participants discussed critical topics related to ocean health and sustainability, including marine protected areas, sustainable blue economies, climate change, maritime security, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution and green shipping.

These discussions aimed to foster collaboration and implement effective solutions for safeguarding our oceans’ delicate equilibrium

Additionally, the conference received more than 460 commitments worth USD 11.35 billion across the six issue areas, emphasizing the importance of collective efforts to protect ocean health and security

WestMED workshop – Emerging impacts of regional cooperation
One of the discussions that took place was a side-event organised by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism and moderated by Thanos Smanis. It was titled ‘Emerging impacts of regional cooperation in the Mediterranean Sea – with a special focus on green shipping and sustainable coastal tourism.’

In the opening remarks Orlando Costa (Portuguese directorate for maritime policy and WestMED’s current copresidency) outlined the shared objectives between the Our Ocean Conference and the WestMED Initiative focused on supporting a sustaiable blue economy.

Thanos Smanis then highlighted the results that have been achieved through the WestMED Initiative with partnerships and discussions that have been formed and consist of organisations from Northern and Southern shore countries. Increasingly, project cooperations are established across the full Mediterranean sea basin, especially when applying for cross-border funding opportunities.

EU funded project cooperation examples
The 2^nd part of this workshop was reserved for 3 projects that were awarded funding with the support of the WestMED Assistance Mechanism and focused on green shipping and decarbonisation, sustainable tourism in coastal areas and blue skills.

Manolis Annetis from the Ethnicon Metsovion Polytechnion in Greece presented ‘Greenmed – Green Shipping Pathways Towards a Clean Energy Transition in the Mediterranean’. GreenMED is a regionally oriented project aiming to effectively support green shipping efforts in the Mediterranean Sea basin, by promoting plausible scenario-based decarbonisation pathways.

Amal Muntaser from X23 took the floor to present WeMED NATOUR and ECO-Cruising FU TOUR that aims at enhancing sustainable coastal tourism. She stressed the importance of smart technologies, digitalization, education and training

Ioannis Argyriou from the Technical University of Crete presented ‘Blue Ports – Blue careers in net zero energy ports’ with the objective to help port staff and port authorities with practical tips and smart tools to cover the gap between current port services and targets of the European Green Deal, including the Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy until 2030 and 2050.

The presentations resulted in an animated in-depth discussion amongst the approx 30 participants, focused on the projects as well as the broader topic of decarbonization efforts and technologies.

This workshop and the ensuing discussions aligned with the many interesting and well received dynamic thematic side-event sessions that were held throughout this conference.

For more information mail thanos.smanis@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu

Orlando Costa | Portuguese directorate for maritime policy (DGPM)