Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, spoke at the first “Mediterranean of the Future” conference in Marseille on Tuesday, November 21. The event was planned on the initiative of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
HSH Prince Albert, Renaud Muselier, President of the Regional Council and numerous ministers and key Mediterranean figures, as well as representatives of the European Commission and the Union for the Mediterranean, also took part.
The conference is open to public and private actors recognised for their contribution to defining and outlining innovative and ambitious solutions in the Mediterranean region. This first conference was focused on the shared commitment of Mediterranean stakeholders to combating global warming and achieving the goals set by the climate agreements, notably the Paris Agreement.
The minister stressed the need to increase the involvement of entrepreneurs, innovators and creators from civil society in our collective efforts to develop a shared space in the Mediterranean.
The ministry supports more than 300 French communities involved in approximately 700 decentralised cooperation projects with a dozen Mediterranean Basin countries as well as civil society organisations and firms operating in the Mediterranean region, notably through “regional multi-stakeholder networks” in the process of being formed in the 13 French regions, according to the French government.