The Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED) participated in the inaugural meeting of the new phase of the “Water and Environment Support for Biodiversity and Climate Action (WES-BCA)” project. The meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium, with the participation of several regional and European organizations involved in the project’s implementation across multiple countries in the northern and southern Mediterranean.

The WES-BCA project aims to enhance environmental protection, restore biodiversity and manage scarce water resources while strengthening climate adaptation in the Mediterranean region. It also seeks to reinforce relevant policies in partner countries and align with the regional policy frameworks of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Barcelona Convention.

The project is being implemented in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with €7 million in funding from the European Union over a three-year period, from November 2024 to November 2027. It is being carried out under the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations and the Directorate-General for Environment.

The inaugural meeting brought together representatives from the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, the MedWaves Center and the Regional Activity Center of the UN Environment Programme/Mediterranean Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production.

In his opening remarks, Stavros Damianidis, Director of the WES-BCA Project, emphasized that this initiative builds upon the achievements of the previous Water and Environment Support project implemented between 2019 and 2024. He expressed confidence in the project’s ability to successfully achieve its intended objectives, benefiting from the extensive experience of previous EU-funded initiatives.

Professor Michael Scoullos, Team Leader of the WES-BCA Project, highlighted the project’s role in deepening countries’ understanding and enhancing skills in integrated approaches, such as the water-energy-food nexus and Mediterranean ecosystems. These approaches are jointly promoted at the regional level by the European Union, the Union for the Mediterranean and the Barcelona Convention.

Scoullos also noted that reducing plastic pollution and marine litter from riverine sources is a key priority within the project’s agenda. He emphasized efforts to strengthen awareness and communication across key sectors, broaden outreach—particularly to women and youth—and encourage behavioral shifts towards more sustainable climate action and consumption and production patterns in the region.

The meeting was co-chaired by Frédéric Fortun, Director of the Environment Program in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Water and Biodiversity Division, at the European Commission. He expressed confidence in the continued collaboration with the WES-BCA project team to achieve its core objectives, including pollution reduction and prevention in the Mediterranean, biodiversity protection and restoration, enhanced climate resilience for partner countries and improved water-use efficiency.