A draft strategy for sustainable development in the Mediterranean calls for firm measures on over-exploitation of water resources, climate change, pollution, coastal overdevelopment and the safeguarding of ecosystems.

The plan is on the agenda of a two-day conference being hosted by the Maltese government which has the two-year rotating presidency of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development. It is being held in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and French environmental NGO Plan Bleu.

The plan includes a series of targets spread over a nine-year period between 2016 and 2025 which cover seas and coasts, natural resources, rural development and food, climate, sustainable cities, transition towards a green economy and governance.

The finalised strategy will be presented for endorsement at the Barcelona Convention next June.

In his opening address at the Excelsior Hotel in Floriana, Environment Minister Leo Brincat yesterday morning said the strategy should move to the implementation stage as early as possible or else it would run the risk of becoming a wish list.

“The status quo is not an option, and we cannot adopt a business as usual approach,” he said.

Meanwhile, the event also marked the appointment of popular singer Ira Losco as Malta’s Goodwill Ambassador for sustainable development for 2015.