عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Mediterranean Nations Committed to Confronting Climate Emergencies

Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
TT
TT

Mediterranean Nations Committed to Confronting Climate Emergencies

Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)

Ministers from the 42 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gathered in Cairo on Monday for the 2nd Ministerial Conference on Environment and Climate action held under the co-presidency of Jordan and the European Union (EU).

The ministers agreed on a common agenda to strengthen efforts in the Euro-Mediterranean region to tackle the multiple climate and environmental challenges it faces urgently.

The commitment reflects the highest possible ambition in accelerating the transition towards sustainable, climate-neutral, and green economies.

The conference was chaired by Frans Timmermans, European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, and Nabil Masarweh, Jordan's Minister of Environment, attended by Secretary-General of the UfM Secretariat, Nasser Kamel. Egypt was represented by Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad.

The second ministerial conference comes at a critical moment for the region, only a few weeks ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and following a summer dominated by climate and environmental emergencies across the region.

The dire warning calls of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the network of Mediterranean experts on climate change (MedECC) also drew attention to the Mediterranean as one of the world's climate change hotspots.

During the Cairo conference, ministers acknowledged the urgency of taking action, stressing a firm commitment to tackle climate and environmental challenges by fully implementing the Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030.

The ministers reiterated their commitment to lead by example and reflect the highest possible ambition by accelerating the transition towards fair, resilient, climate-neutral, and resource-efficient economies to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C, halt and reverse biodiversity loss and reduce air pollution.

They stressed the importance of including environment and climate action in all sectoral policies, including energy, industry, agriculture, and transportation, while mobilizing and expanding resources to support the green transition.

Investments and sustainable finance featured high on the agenda and the need to step up action on adaptation and reinforce the science-policy nexus.

The ministers emphasized the need to progressively reduce the use of fossil fuels, ensure a just transition and engage all stakeholders in environmental and climate policy-making, as well as the importance of supporting women and youth engagement in building resilience and driving the green transition.

The UfM Secretariat was mandated to support the implementation of the objectives of this declaration and monitor progress through its Environment and Climate working group.

High-level representatives of international financial institutions and UfM senior officials discussed the challenges and opportunities of the green transition in the Mediterranean in an event on investments organized by the EU and the UfM at the margins of the ministerial conference.

The discussion focused on potential trends and tools to accelerate the transition towards the region's clean, fair, and competitive economies.

The conference also saw the UfM hold a joint event with the United Nations Development Program on Biological Diversity, Ecosystem Restoration, and Food Systems. It helped establish the first steps to implement the recommendations outlined in the Declaration.

The importance of these steps was made clear by the latest IUCN reports, which indicate that some 62 million macro-litter items are floating on the surface of the Mediterranean basin.

Timmermans said that the climate crisis is existential for all of humanity and transcends borders and politics, stressing that establishing a sustainable future for all citizens across the Mediterranean is a shared responsibility.

"It is time to act and fulfill the commitments we all made under the Paris agreement. Today we have set a bold and ambitious vision for a clean, competitive, resilient, and inclusive Mediterranean. I hope our joint ambition is an example for other regions to follow."

The EU Commissioner for the Environment Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, noted that the countries of the Mediterranean share a rich natural heritage and a common concern for the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

"We now have a renewed commitment to address these challenges together with an ambitious plan of action to protect the environment for future generations. The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic allows us to build back better and greener together."

Masarweh noted that the Mediterranean region was shown to be one of the biggest climate change hotspots.

He explained that temperature in the area warms 20 percent faster than the global mean temperature, as was indicated by the MedECC report, besides other environmental challenges that the region faces.

Kamel underlined that the Mediterranean Sea has a fragile ecosystem that suffers from different problems, such as biodiversity loss, overfishing, pollution, coastal degradation, and marine litter.

The alarming effects of climate change exacerbate the fragility of this ecosystem.

"The more closely the Euro-Mediterranean community works together, the more funding we will be able to generate and the more effectively we'll be able to use it," he said.

The UfM has been very active in this regard, firstly by treating marine litter as an environmental and economic problem, and most importantly, mobilizing funds targeting key regional operational initiatives to fight climate change.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

In First, French Presidential Candidate Gives Birth During Campaign

Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of Les Ecologistes (the Ecologists - EELV - French Green Party) party arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France's security and energy supplies, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of Les Ecologistes (the Ecologists - EELV - French Green Party) party arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France's security and energy supplies, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
TT
TT

In First, French Presidential Candidate Gives Birth During Campaign

Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of Les Ecologistes (the Ecologists - EELV - French Green Party) party arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France's security and energy supplies, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of Les Ecologistes (the Ecologists - EELV - French Green Party) party arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France's security and energy supplies, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

French Greens leader and candidate in the 2027 presidential election Marine Tondelier said Wednesday she had given birth to a son, emphasizing that she would press on campaigning while prioritizing the health of her child.

Tondelier, 40, was the first candidate in French politics to campaign while pregnant and, while acknowledging the challenges, she had expressed hope it would push issues including infertility and motherhood up the agenda.

Her boy Leon was born in Lens in northern France on September 18, Tondelier told AFP, saying the family had kept the news private for a few days.

He was born hours after Tondelier as Greens chief had attended a rare meeting at the Elysee Palace where President Emmanuel Macron had warned France's political leaders over the risk of Russian hybrid attacks.

She told AFP that the birth had gone "very well," adding that she would be "working differently" for a while and "trying to figure out how to balance a presidential campaign with a newborn, whose health and well-being come first."

Already the mother of a 7-year-old boy, Tondelier was confirmed as the candidate for the Greens on Monday. In December, the party will decide whether to maintain her candidacy or withdraw and throw the party's weight behind another left-wing figure.

Polls currently show Tondelier, who has the slogan "another Marine is possible!" in reference to far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen, lagging well under five percent in the first round of voting.

Varieties

Voting Opens in Alaska's Annual Fat Bear Week

A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
TT
TT

Voting Opens in Alaska's Annual Fat Bear Week

A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Polls opened Tuesday in the only American election that really matters: Fat Bear Week.

While the United States might be gearing up for midterm ballots that will decide who runs Washington, hundreds of thousands of people were readying to vote on animals gorging themselves in rural Alaska.

In a contest that has rapidly become one of the internet's favorite moments, the brown bears of Katmai National Park unwittingly compete in a series of head-to-head contests to see which one of them has most impressively piled on the pounds ahead of hibernation.

Viewers can watch a livestream of the enormous animals as they scoop salmon from the Brooks River, or browse biographies of some of the top contenders, including before-and-after pictures showing how much weight the bears have gained over a summer of feasting.

"For each match-up, vote for the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears," said organizers, according to AFP.

"The bear with the most votes advances to the next round. Only one will be crowned Fat Bear Week champion."

Last year's winner, Chunk, beat out a stiff challenge from two-time winner Grazer.

Summer and early autumn are key fueling periods for the brown bears, which will not eat for five months of hibernation, relying on their store of fat to survive the punishing Alaskan winter.

The online contest began in 2014 with just a few thousand people voting, but has now turned into an eagerly awaited exercise in tongue-in-cheek democracy with more than a million people voting every year.

The aim is to raise awareness of brown bears and their habitat in Alaska, and the risks they face from human activity.

Varieties

Another Beluga Whale Dies at Chicago Aquarium after Rescue Mission from Canada Park

This photo provided by Shedd Aquarium shows a beluga whale named Osiris at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Aug. 20, 2026. (Rachel Mittelstaedt/Shedd Aquarium via AP)
This photo provided by Shedd Aquarium shows a beluga whale named Osiris at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Aug. 20, 2026. (Rachel Mittelstaedt/Shedd Aquarium via AP)
TT
TT

Another Beluga Whale Dies at Chicago Aquarium after Rescue Mission from Canada Park

This photo provided by Shedd Aquarium shows a beluga whale named Osiris at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Aug. 20, 2026. (Rachel Mittelstaedt/Shedd Aquarium via AP)
This photo provided by Shedd Aquarium shows a beluga whale named Osiris at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Aug. 20, 2026. (Rachel Mittelstaedt/Shedd Aquarium via AP)

A third beluga has died at a Chicago aquarium after being rescued this summer from a shuttered Canadian marine park in a complex international operation that moved 30 whales to aquariums in the US and Spain.

Osiris, a 26-year-old female whale, died on Monday, Chicago's Shedd Aquarium said in a statement. The death comes less than a week after a fourth beluga, named Jelly Bean, died since it was rehomed at Oceanogràfic de València in Spain.

The deaths were sudden and unexpected as their health wavered amid the challenges of adjusting to a new home, according to statements from the aquariums.

Beluga whales are particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment, like climate change, pollution and other sources of stress, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Beluga whales native to the Cook Inlet on Alaska's coast are classified as an endangered species, and their population rapidly declined by nearly 80% from 1979 to 2018.

“When Shedd was asked to help with this rescue, we understood that these animals arrived with significant vulnerabilities and that the outcome for every individual could not be guaranteed,” The Associated Press quoted the Shedd Aquarium as saying in a statement.

The Shedd Aquarium took in 10 of the 30 belugas and four dolphins stranded at Marineland, an Ontario park that closed years ago and could no longer care for them. The Canadian government signed off on a last-minute agreement to move its last captive whales out of the country earlier this year, saving them from euthanasia.

The belugas came from the Marineland park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024.

Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — had died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom of information laws and official statements.

The rescued belugas were moved in custom-made slings and temperature-controlled containers, Shedd staff told The Associated Press. Aquarium personnel traveled to Marineland to examine their health records in preparation for the move. They have monitored their health minute-by-minute since they arrived, the aquarium staff said.

Peekachu and Rain died at the Shedd in late August and early September after arriving from Canada. Another beluga that had lived at the aquarium for decades died around the same time.

Osiris was a “whale of clinical concern” since she arrived, according to the aquarium. The whale did not eat as consistently as her fellow animals, which complicated the efforts to keep her well-fed and hydrated, according to the statement.

“Osiris experienced periods of meaningful progress, both nutritionally and socially, but her overall condition remained closely monitored,” the aquarium stated.

Osiris' caretakers noticed sudden changes in her behavior and breathing patterns the morning of her death, according to the aquarium. She was moved to the medical habitat, but “her condition declined rapidly,” and she “passed away despite lifesaving efforts.”

A beluga sent to Spain died suddenly Jelly Bean, the whale that died at Oceanogràfic de València, also died “suddenly and unexpectedly,” according to José Rafael Serra, a spokesperson for the facility. The whale “experienced feeding difficulties, prompting the veterinary team to intensify her monitoring,” despite periods of improvement, Serra said in an email.

The Spanish aquarium took in two of Marineland's beluga whales, including Jelly Bean. The Georgia Aquarium and SeaWorld locations in San Diego and San Antonio have also accepted whales from the Canadian park.

The two rescued whales at the Georgia Aquarium showed decreased appetites and were examined, but no issues were found, the aquarium said in a social media post Friday. The whales at SeaWorld are in “stable health,” according to AnneMarie Iturrizaga, a spokesperson for the company that owns the parks.

The Shedd Aquarium notified the NOAA of Osiris’ death Monday, according to John Chu, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries. Within 30 days of the whales’ deaths, the aquarium must formally submit their names and causes of death, and on request, provide copies of necropsy reports, Chu said in an email earlier this month.

The Shedd Aquarium said it will conduct necropsies into the whales and will share the results when they are confirmed.

Andrew Trites, the director of the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, said it was concerning that the four belugas had died “so shortly after arriving in their new homes."

The belugas were in small, confined spaces on the flights out of Marineland, but that's not out of the ordinary for them, Trites said. The whales often swim in narrow spaces between sheets of ice, and “should be reasonably well adapted to that sort of condition,” he said.

“Four animals have died so shortly after arriving in the new homes, and that’s what stands out to me as being surprising," Trites said.