Protecting Mediterranean Sea Is So Necessary Now

The Mediterranean Sea is home to more than 400 million people spread across 22 countries, of which 143 million people live on the coast, and about another 175 million visit the region each year. The well being of all these people depends on the health of the environment of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mediterranean environment is one of the richest and at the same time one of the most vulnerable in the world as its marine and coastal environments are exposed to a combination of pressures, 80% of which come from land-based pollution.

More than half of urban areas on the Mediterranean with a population over 100,000 do not have waste water treatment plants and 60% of the wastewater produced in these areas is directly discharged into the sea. More than 80% of landfills in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries are not monitored. The marine environment of the Mediterranean is especially exposed to agricultural waste, airborne particles and river run-off, which carries pathogens, heavy metals, organic pollutants, oils and radioactive substances into the sea.

Rapid urbanisation coupled with increasing and unsustainable development of tourism in the Mediterranean Sea’s coast has contributed to significant environmental and health problems. Pollution from industry, shipping and households, the loss of open areas, and the destruction of coastal ecosystems for construction projects are also taking their toll.

In November 2006 a timetable of action for the Horizon 2020 Initiative was launched. One of these actions called on the European Investment Bank or World Bank to work with donor countries to identify projects which are having the largest impact on Mediterranean pollution levels - upstream and downstream pollution - across the Mediterranean Region.

The identification of priority hotspots investments were conducted by the European Investment Bank in cooperation with the United Nation's Environment Programme's Mediterranean Action Plan. The activities of the MeHSIP will primarily focus on providing support to the Horizon 2020 initiative and partner countries in implementing priority pollution reduction investment projects.

The EIB will now proceed in finalising a list of projects under the Mediterranean Hotspot Investment Programme based on the 44 projects already identified in seven Mediterranean countries. Among the criteria for determining the potential investment in projects are the projects' importance for the country or the Mediterranean region, how significantly they reduce pollution, the sustainability of the operations, and the loan repayment capacity of the projects' promoters and the amounts required from donors.