| Green
Week was also expected to raise the visibility of relevant
policies of the Directorate General for Environment, such
as the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and to promote
related activities, including the dissemination of results
achieved from Life-supported projects. Furthermore, MIO-ECSDE
hopes that through Green Week a series of regional
Mediterranean and other initiatives and activities on
Water, which are complementary and parallel to those of
the Commission will be further integrated and mainstreamed
obtaining a multiplier effect and a maximization of the
value added.
Water in
the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean belongs
to one of the most arid regions of the world. Natural
supplies are unequally distributed among its countries
(72% in the North, 23% in the East and only 5% in the
South) and among various population segments. The actual
water availability is determined not only by water
resources but also by the population distribution.
Annually, approximately 300 billion cubic meters of water
are being used in the entire Mediterranean as follows:
|
Water
use per sector (in billions of cubic meters/yr) |
|
Sub-Regions |
Communities |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Energy |
Total |
|
North |
23 |
65.5 |
20 |
47 |
155.5 |
|
East |
7.5 |
43 |
4 |
0 |
54 |
|
South |
7.5 |
72.5 |
8.5 |
0 |
88.5 |
|
Total |
38 |
181 |
33 |
47 |
299 |
Demand for water has
doubled in less than a century and increased by 60% over
the past 25 years. Agricultural consumption for irrigation
reaches 80% in many areas. Domestic use and tourism reach
15-17%, while industrial uses account for 3-5%.
IWRM in
the Mediterranean
Water in the Mediterranean,
the area where three continents meet, is a critical and
vulnerable resource, invaluable for human welfare and
sustainable development and essential for the maintenance
of the rich biological diversity of the region. That is
why Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) should be
a common goal for all those concerned with balanced and
equitable progress around this basin where ancient and
modern civilisations were developed. IWRM aims to ensure
the coordinated development and management of water, land
and related resources by maximizing economic and social
welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital
environmental ecosystems. It is a global concept closely
complementing the principles of the EU Water Framework
Directive.
The main dilemma the
majority of Mediterranean countries are facing, is how to
balance demand and supply of water in order to ensure
self-sufficiency in meeting agricultural, industrial and
domestic water needs without damaging natural aquatic
ecosystems.
It is considered that the
knowledge and technology of what needs to be done to
implement IWRM at regional and national level is to a
certain extent already available or it is at least
obtainable. Nevertheless, in many areas and fields a lot
more needs to be clarified, tested or adapted to local
conditions. Furthermore, political will and public
commitment are needed. IWRM can only be achieved through
the active participation of all stakeholders involved: the
governments, the users, the local authorities, the private
sector and the NGOs. Obviously, social and cultural
changes will be required so as to shift to a more
sustainable and responsible consumer behavior and also to
adjust the public and the private sector's methods of
planning and operation of water works and practices.
The
Water Framework Directive (WFD)
After 25 years of European
water legislation the new European Water Policy was
developed through a consultation process with all
interested parties including primarily the Council and the
European Parliament and input from interested parties,
such as local and regional authorities, water users and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A score of
organisations and individuals responded in writing, most
of the comments welcoming the broad outline given by the
Commission. The outcome of this consultation process was a
widespread consensus that, while considerable progress had
been made in tackling individual issues, the current water
policy was fragmented, in terms both of objectives and of
means. All parties agreed on the need for a single piece
of framework legislation to resolve these problems. In
response to this, the Commission presented a Proposal for
a Water Framework Directive which was finally published in
the Official Journal OJ.L327 on 22/12/2000 after its
adoption under joint decision by the European Parliament
and the Council ("co-decision procedure") and
following a conciliation procedure according to the rules
of the Amsterdam Treaty.
The WFD has the following
key aims:
- expanding the scope of
water protection to all waters, surface waters and
groundwater
- achieving "good
status" for all waters by a set deadline
- water management based
on river basins
- "combined
approach" of emission limit values and quality
standards
- getting the prices right
- getting the citizens
involved more closely
- streamlining legislation
It is expected that the WFD
will provide the basis for subsequent legislative
initiatives, particularly through the “Common Strategy
on the Implementation of the WFD”, which includes the
setting up of a coordination group as well as 11 working
groups on all its critical aspects.
The GWP
and the GWP-Med (former MED TAC)
The Global Water
Partnership (GWP), established in 1996, is an independent
international network open to all organizations involved
in water resources management: developed and developing
country government institutions, agencies of the UN, bi-
and multilateral development banks, professional
associations, research institutions, NGOs and the private
sector. The GWP was created to foster Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM). Acting as an open forum for
dialogue and exchange of ideas, it encourages and empowers
both organizations and people to participate in designing
and implementing solutions to their water problems in the
context of IWRM. It is divided into nine Regional Water
Partnerships one of which is that of the Mediterranean
region.
The GWP-Med, a regional
network of networks-institutions involved in water
management in the Mediterranean, acts mainly as a broker,
catalyst, facilitator and advocacy organization on IWRM in
the region. In the short and medium term, GWP-Med focuses
on: strengthening partnership building and networking
among stakeholders providing platforms for cross-sectoral
co-operation; getting IWRM in place and, where possible,
supporting targeted strategic actions in the
Mediterranean.
The GWP-Med partners are:
CEDARE, CIHEAM, IME, MIO-ECSDE, MWN, MedWet, Plan Blue
(MAP/UNEP).,
| MIO-ECSDE
tries to facilitate wherever possible, synergy
between the WFD and the GWP-Med activities,
particularly by securing efficient public awareness
and active and constructive public participation in
managing Water. |
It is reminded that MIO-ECSDE
has a membership of 89 Mediterranean Environment and
Development NGOs and a wider network of over 600
subscribers throughout the 22 Mediterranean countries.
Session
24. "Water in the Mediterranean: Towards a Joint
Action"
A Workshop (Session 24) on
"Water in the Mediterranean: Towards a Joint
Action", was organized by MIO-ECSDE, on 27 April
2001. The Workshop, which was co-chaired by MIO-ECSDE and
DG ENV, was attended by more than 150 participants, while
a 5-language interpretation was provided (English, French,
German, Spanish, Italian).
According to its scope,
Session 24:
- provided information and
assisted in better understanding the
inter-relationship of the water policies in the EU and
the Mediterranean,
- stressed that these
policies are all based on the same philosophy and
point towards the same direction, even if the emphasis
sometimes differ a little
- sought coherence and
synergy towards common water action where all partners
are major stakeholders.
A 6-page leaflet presenting
a brief introduction on the issues addressed and the
agenda of Session 24 was published and disseminated to
about 1,000 recipients before and during the Green Week.
After the opening key-note
remark made by the Chairman of MIO-ECSDE, Prof. M.
Scoullos, that explained the scope of the Workshop, two
short presentations addressed the issues of climate change
and desertification, as well as the water related issues
of wetlands management and biodiversity protection. In the
next three presentations, positive and negative
experiences on water management in the region were
presented, making special reference to north and south
specificities and examples, while the Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) concept was briefly explained.
The Session continued focusing on the EU role, approach
and initiatives both from the Commission's and the NGOs
point of view. After the break, the Global Water
Partnership-Med initiative was briefly presented, while
the way information, public awareness, education, as well
as databases, monitoring and information systems could
contribute in addressing adequately the related problems
were the issues tackled in the last two presentations.
The debate that followed
for about 45 minutes allowed for interventions by many
participants and exchange of views on specific issues
(e.g. on the need for multi-stakeholders regional
cooperation and synergies' development, the key importance
of raising political will, water problems related with war
in the region, available financial instruments, etc.)
They key points of the
Workshop will be used as an input to the two
"back-to-back" water conferences to be co-organised
by MIO-ECSDE and the European Rio+10 Coalition, in Cairo,
at the end of the year (19-22 December 2001).
MIO-ECSDE
stands on Water in the Mediterranean
A 12-folder stand was set
up for the Green Week Exhibition, which remained open the
entire week. A set of posters was prepared especially for
this event (4 color, English/French).
The poster themes were:
- Water cycle (1 poster)
- Water supply in the
Mediterranean (1 poster)
- Water demand in the
Mediterranean (1 poster)
- IWRM principles and
their application in the Mediterranean (1 poster)
- EU Bathing Water
Directive (3 posters: Developing the policy, Specific
issues in quality management, What you can do as a
citizen)
| The stands
was decorated with traditional water carrying
vessels from Mediterranean counties (Greece, Turkey,
Morocco) made out of different material (clay,
copper, leather)
Though it is
difficult to calculate the exact scale of
attendance, it is evident that the vast majority of
the Green Week's participants (more than 3,000
people) visited the two exhibition floors. The
participation of children was particularly high. The
location of the MIO-ECSDE stand in the entrance of
the second floor assisted in its high attendance.
More than 1,800 leaflets, booklets and newsletters
of various content were disseminated from the stand. |
 |
Follow
up of MIO-ECSDE water related activities
Water is among the priority
fields of activity of MIO-ECSDE. A rich and diverse work
programme with both regional and country specific coverage
is foreseen for 2001 (as part of a 2001-2003 work plan).
Among the 2001 activities,
MIO-ECSDE will:
- produce two publications
(leaflet, booklet) on water in the region (in a total
of 280,000 copies, in 8 languages)
- prepare a 12-poster
mobile exhibition (4 sets, 3 languages), which will be
presented in almost all Mediterranean countries
- publish a water
education kit for secondary schools (in 3 languages)
- publish a media kit on
water and will set up a regional journalists' club
- develop a water web site
- organize a variety of
water events in 12 Mediterranean countries with
different target groups (lobbying visits at high
political level, experts meetings, stakeholders
workshops, exhibitions, press conferences, etc.)
- will organize the major
Mediterranean water multi-stakeholders conference for
this year (follow up of the Athens Water Stakeholders
Conference, November 2001), in Cairo, end of December
2002.
|
