The UCLG World Secretariat participated as partner of the Mediterranean Conference of Parties (MedCOP) in Tangier on June 22nd and 23rd
05.07.2023
The MedCOP, organized by the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Council and the Mediterranean Climate House, aimed to strengthen the resilience of cities and territories in the face of climate change. The congress served as a crucial solutions platform to realign the localisation of global agendas, especially the implementation of the Paris Agreement, leading up to the COP28 UAE in Dubai later this year. The outcome of MedCOP will be a Declaration that is expected to be presented at the Climate Action Summit in NYC and at COP28.
During the inaugural ceremony of MedCOP, the present constituency was welcomed by the President of the Tangier-Tetouan-Alhoucema Region, Mr. Omar Moro and the Mayor of the City of Tangier Mr. Mounir Lymouri to the strategic territory for Mediterranean climate that is Tangier. Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of UCLG, spoke on the importance of local governments in implementing the Climate Action and how the greatest legacy of the Mediterranean is the people, who must do the greatest of transformations in this territory for the current and future generations for People, Planet and Governments.
As a partner organisation of the event, UCLG participated with a delegation of 15 local representatives of the 3 shores of the Mediterranean in the debates and discussions. Co-leading 4 sessions, UCLG put local and regional governments at the heart of the debates on territories, on 4 key themes:
Resilience and Rural-Urban Links (with UN-Habitat, the Ministry of Housing, Urbanism, Territorial Planning and City Policy of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Regional Government of Extremadura, the City of Amman, The Casablanca-Settat Region, the City of Soria, and ABA Technology); Mainstreaming Gender in Climate Action (with UN Women, the Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family of the Kingdom of Morocco, RES4Africa, the City of Castel Maggiore, the Region of Nouakchott, WECF, the RAI television, the Union for the Mediterranean, Spanish Cooperation, and IEMed); Climate Migration: Impacts and Opportunities (with IOM, the City of Tangier, the African Observatory of Migration, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Union for the Mediterranean, and MedECC); and Restructuring Food Systems (with UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Chair of the Committee on World Food Security of FAO, the Union for the Mediterranean, the City of Chefchaouen, the Egyptian Ministry of Local Development, CEMAS, Let’s Food Cities, the Nouakchott region, the City of Marseille, ICLEI, the Generalitat of Catalunya, FEMP and ORU Fogar)
In particular, the Future Envisioning Exercise (FEE) on Restructuring Food Systems presented an instance of unfolding of the Pact for the Future as part of the UCLG Global Policymaking towards the UN Summit of the Future. Through a commoning vision, Mr. Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen, UCLG Special Envoy to the UN on Food Systems and part of the MedCOP organising committee along with other Mediterranean actors, local and regional governments discussed their commitments to fostering inclusive and sustainable food systems and the emergence of a food democracy and sovereignty that allows all inhabitants in their territories to have access to sufficient, healthy and sustainable food.
Finally, MedCOP was a significant step towards mobilising and including local and regional governments of the Mediterranean region towards the COP process. MedCOP has allowed to collectively address the challenges of climate change and work towards sustainable and resilient futures.
More images of the key moments
