About the Barcelona Convention

The Barcelona Convention is the only regional multilateral legal framework for the protection of the Mediterranean marine and coastal environment. It was adopted as the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution on 16 February 1976 in Barcelona and entered into force in 1978. Upon its supplementation in 1995, it was renamed the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea and Coasts, and the supplemented version has been in force since 2004.

It was established as a result of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), which was designed by the United Nations to improve the environment in the Mediterranean. It was a huge stride towards establishing a new culture of cooperation to combat pollution and reduce adverse environmental impacts, preserve biodiversity and improve the climate.
The Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Montenegro, Egypt, France, Greece, Croatia, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, Syria, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the European Union.

The Barcelona Convention is under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with the Secretariat based in Athens (Greece), and Spain as the Depositary of the Treaty.