Nicosia: MED9 Ministers of Agriculture have come together in Slovenia to sign a Joint Declaration aimed at building agricultural resilience across the Mediterranean region. The Ministers from Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain have pledged their commitment to advancing efforts for a resilient, sustainable, and climate-adapted agricultural sector, aligning with major European initiatives such as the European Green Deal, the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, and the forthcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
According to Cyprus News Agency, the Ministers acknowledged the Mediterranean as a climate change hotspot with growing agricultural vulnerabilities due to climate-related and other risks. They emphasized agriculture’s critical role in ensuring food security, sovereignty, water resource management, and biodiversity protection. However, they recognized that current European and national systems are not adequately equipped to address these challenges, calling for immediate, coordinated actions that integrate climate resilience into all governance levels and policy areas.
During the meeting, the need to adopt a resilience-by-design approach was highlighted, emphasizing the integration of adaptation strategies into all relevant EU policies, including the CAP. Cyprus’s Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panagiotou, expressed that the MED9 meeting marked a decisive step towards coordinated action. She highlighted the region’s vulnerability to climate change, which impacts farmers’ livelihoods, water resources, and food security.
Minister Panagiotou underscored the importance of not leaving farmers to carry the financial burden of climate change alone, advocating for support to ensure they can continue production under challenging conditions. “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 stated. She reaffirmed Cyprus’s commitment to working with MED9 partners to secure a sustainable and resilient future for Mediterranean agriculture.