The ‘MED9’ Ministers of Agriculture signed a Joint Declaration on Building Agricultural Resilience in the Mediterranean region during a meeting in Slovenia.
The Ministers of Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain reaffirmed their strong commitment to stepping up joint efforts to create a resilient, sustainable, and climate-adapted agricultural sector in the Mediterranean region, fully aligned with the European Green Deal, the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, and the objectives of the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The ministers recognised that the Mediterranean region is one of the world’s climate change hotspots that faces increasing agricultural vulnerability due to climate-related and other risks. They also agreed on agriculture’s pivotal role in food security, food sovereignty, water resource management, and biodiversity protection.
In their declaration, the nine ministers also recognised that existing European and national systems and policies remain insufficiently prepared to cope with these realities. They highlighted the need for immediate, coordinated, and forward-looking responses across all levels of governance, integrating climate resilience into every policy field.
The nine also stressed the need to promote a resilience-by-design approach, embedding adaptation into all relevant EU policies, including the CAP.
Cyprus Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Maria Panagiotou said the region stands at the frontline of climate change, directly impacting the daily lives of farmers, water resources, and food security.
Farmers are already operating at the limits of their viability, and it would be unfair to expect them to bear alone the financial burden of climate change or compete on an unequal footing, she noted.
"That’s why we are here for our farmers, we are here to make sure that our farmers will have the support they need in order to continue to produce under pressing circumstances. Our Joint Declaration sends a clear message on how imperative it is to have a strategic and long-term approach to risk management in agriculture," she said.
Panagiotou also assured that Cyprus stands firmly with its MED9 partners in calling for urgent, coordinated, and forward-looking action, not only to protect farmers today, but to secure a sustainable and resilient future for Mediterranean agriculture.
Source: CNA