- The minister travelled to Tunisia today to take part in the Mediterranean Water Forum, an event that brought together ministers and ambassadors from various Mediterranean countries
- The Government was invited to explain the management of the drought in Catalonia
- The event provided an opportunity to introduce the new delegate Habiba El Mouali, who will provide an added boost to the Government Delegation to North Africa
The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union, Meritxell Serret i Aleu, took part today in Tunisia in the fifth edition of the Mediterranean Water Forum, a platform promoted by the World Water Council, the Mediterranean Water Institute and the Union for the Mediterranean to exchange and consolidate knowledge and experiences in the water sector in the Mediterranean.
During a media briefing prior to her participation in the forum, Minister Serret stressed that the Government had been invited to share the successful practices of drought management being implemented in Catalonia, as well as to explain the prevention measures it is proposing for future droughts: "We are addressing the drought with a vision of the present, with all actions coordinated with various stakeholders to provide solutions and ensure well-being and prosperity, but above all with a vision of the future. The climate emergency affecting the Mediterranean area compels us to do so".
Serret added that it is an opportunity to continue building alliances within the Mediterranean macro-region, which aims to coordinate the actions of Mediterranean governments and cities to address the effects of the climate emergency. "It is a global problem that we must not tackle alone, but in collaboration with all our neighbours that border the Mediterranean," said the minister.
During her speech at the forum, the minister also stressed that this was an opportunity to share best practices on optimising water use in the Mediterranean, and emphasised the importance of investing in new technologies for desalination and water reuse so that all economic actors could adapt to the new scenario.
In her closing remarks, Serret reaffirmed the Government's commitment to the Mediterranean macroregion, an initiative aimed at addressing the region's joint challenges such as the climate emergency. "We are promoting the macroregion to ensure adaptation and resilience in the face of climate change," she said.
Minister Serret had already visited Tunisia in June of last year to seek alliances on the southern shore of the Mediterranean for the macroregion project, a political commitment led by the Generalitat de Catalunya and which, together with other Mediterranean governments, should enable further progress to be made in the fight against climate change in the Mediterranean.
Additionally, in November, the Generalitat de Catalunya organised the Summit for the Mediterranean Macroregion at the Palau de la Generalitat, a high-level meeting at which a joint declaration was promoted by some sixty participants, including 12 governments from 6 states, international organisations, entities and representatives of European institutions. This declaration called on the European Commission to initiate the procedures to activate the proposal for the creation of the macroregion and the definition of the action plan.