2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report

United Nations 2 years ago

Published every 6 years,  the second edition of the MED QSR is the upshot of a collective endeavor involving the Contracting Parties, MAP partners, in particular the scientific community, the Secretariat and the MAP Components. The MED QSR series builds on a robust conceptual foundation and nationally sourced, quality-assured data submitted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention or other reliable sources, to provide an evidence-based intelligible assessment of Good Environmental Status (GES) of the Mediterranean Sea and coast, based on a GES /non-GES approach, as defined in the framework of the ecosystem approach and its Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme IMAP. The 2023 report has been officially approved by UNEP and now is one of the official UNEP reports for 2024. The preparation of the 2023 MED QSR has seen coordinated efforts on data acquisition covering the 9 Ecological Objectives and 23 Common Indicators of IMAP. The report blends national data with patterns observed at the regional level. By distilling new knowledge, the report also contributes to other relevant assessment exercises at global, regional and national levels, and the implementation of respective policies and regulatory framework.  The 2023 MED QSR  is divided into three main chapters, "The Mediterranean Sea" "Assessments of the Quality Status of the Mediterranean Sea" and "Main Actions and Measures to Support the UNEP/MAP Work for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast from 2017 Med QSR."The report is supported by its Executive Summary (approved by COP23 in Portoroz, Slovenia, in December 2023) and the Summary for Policy Makers which was recently developed and approved under the leadership of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention All 3 reports are hosted by a dedicated website developed by INFO/RAC, which is publicly available, to ensure that it can be easily accessible and used by policymakers, experts, the public, young people and scientists and indeed, everyone harboring an interest in the marine and coastal environment in the Mediterranean context. Web site> 2023 MED QSRVideo> 2023 MED QSR  Watch the full video of 23th January 2025
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 6 hours ago



The UK’s retrofit gap remains the defining issue for sustainable construction. The National Retrofit Hub’s call for a stronger national retrofit system exposes persistent weaknesses in standards, skills, finance and policy stability. Treating retrofit as national infrastructure would support whole life carbon reduction, improve building lifecycle performance and strengthen environmental sustainability in construction across the existing building stock.

Nesta’s finding that electricity bills are rising more slowly than gas could sharpen the business case for low carbon design. Heat pumps, electric vehicles and fabric-first upgrades become more attractive when assessed through life cycle cost rather than upfront capital alone. Developers, landlords and retrofit providers can position electrification as a route to energy-efficient buildings, lower exposure to fossil-fuel volatility and progress towards net zero carbon buildings.

Climate adaptation is now a core test of sustainable building design. Planting, shading, passive cooling, urban greening and green infrastructure are becoming essential responses to overheating risk, particularly for lower-income households. Eco-design for buildings must address summer resilience as well as winter efficiency, linking sustainable design with health, comfort and long-term carbon footprint reduction.

Major infrastructure remains the sector’s most difficult contradiction. Renewed uncertainty over Heathrow expansion raises questions about the carbon footprint of construction, embodied carbon in materials and the credibility of net zero whole life carbon policy. Large projects need robust whole life carbon assessment, lifecycle assessment and transparent sustainable material specification, supported by environmental product declarations (EPDs), low embodied carbon materials and circular economy in construction principles. Sustainable construction has the techniques; consistent governance is still missing.

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