Mediterranean leaders appeal for urgent actions to tackle climate change

VALLETTA - The heads of state of six Mediterranean countries have issued a joint declaration calling for urgent actions to tackle climate change and its effect on the region, the presidential office of Malta said in a statement on Thursday.

"As expected, the climate crisis has arrived and has reached explosive proportions, so much so that there is now talk of a 'state of climate emergency'," said the declaration signed by Maltese President George Vella, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar.

The document emphasized the vulnerability of the Mediterranean region, which "is severely affected and at immediate risk of not only water and electricity scarcity, but also of floods, widespread heatwaves, fires, and desertification".

"Extreme natural phenomena are destroying the ecosystem and threatening our daily life, our way of life. There is no more time to waste, no more time to compromise for political or economic reasons. It is imperative to act and take urgent actions," the presidents said.

They urged all Mediterranean countries, the European Union and the international community to react and engage in a collective effort to halt and reverse the effects of the climate crisis, and to keep this issue high on their political agenda.