The leaders of Europe’s Mediterranean countries pledged on Friday to expand cooperation against climate change, at a meeting in Athens held in the aftermath of massive wildfires that ravaged parts of southern Europe.
They expressed their “strong conviction that urgent and ambitious global action (is needed) at national, regional and local levels”, according to a joint statement issued after the talks got underway.
“It is absolutely the right move at the right time because we all see that climate change is heavily affecting the Mediterranean region,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Attending the talks were President Emmanuel Macron of France, Italian PM Mario Draghi, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and leaders and senior representatives from Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia and Portugal.
