The UVic-UCC's BETA Technology Center will be present at COP29 to address the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean region

The BETA Technology Center of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) will play a leading role at the29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), which is taking place in Baku (Republic of Azerbaijan) from 11 to 22 November. The director of the BETA Technology Center, Sergio Ponsá, will be representing the centre in three sessions in the Mediterranean Pavilion on 14 and 15 November, as part of the conference's programme of activities. At this global event, Ponsá will stress the importance of promoting research and innovation as essential tools for addressing environmental challenges in the Mediterranean region, which is one of the areas most heavily affected by global climate change. 

The BETA Technology Center's presence in the Mediterranean Pavilion at COP29 is significant, as this technology centre has extensive experience in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation programmes. Indeed, the Union for the Mediterranean has lent its explicit support to some of its projects, and has invited the BETA Technology Center to be part of its working group on climate change. Other institutions with a Mediterranean perspective are based in Catalonia, including the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) and MedWaves, which will also be involved in organising the sessions in which the BETA Technology Center will be involved. 

According to Ponsá, this Euro-Mediterranean approach is crucial, since "many of the challenges are common to both the north and the south of the Mediterranean, and that is why a global perspective is necessary - a vision that was not a priority for the European Union until recently, but which is now a firm commitment." The BETA Technology Center is working on projects that contribute to the development of new regulations and policies. "We try to make sure that the initiatives that come from Brussels take the situation in the Mediterranean into account to a greater extent," explains Ponsá. 

The involvement of the BETA Technology Center 

The first of the sessions in which the BETA Technology Center director will be participating  takes place on 14 November, and will be coordinated by the Interreg Next Med programme. This session aims to foster a debate on the benefits, added value and real impact of the green transition projects organised by the programme in the Mediterranean region. 

On 15 November, in another event organised by the Interreg Next Med program, but this time also through MedWaves, Ponsá will be participating in a session presenting successful cases of innovation in the promotion of the circular economy in countries on the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. And finally, on 15 November, in a session organised jointly by the Union for the Mediterranean and the EMEA, Ponsá will have the opportunity to talk about the experience gained in projects coordinated by BETA Technology Center which have contributed to spreading and implementing innovative forms of agroforestry systems that can help make the Mediterranean's agricultural landscapes more sustainable and resilient. 

An event not to be missed 

In the past, the director of the BETA Technology Center has attended COP27, which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) in November 2022. On that occasion he also participated in three sessions of the programme of events in the Mediterranean Pavilion, in which he talked about agri-food systems within the framework of sustainable development, the circular economy and the reduction of greenhouse effect emissions, and green and blue innovations. 

The main objective of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP29) is to address the challenge of the climate crisis and to limit the planet's global warming in the twenty-first century to 1.5 ºC. The event will bring together leading figures in government, business and civil society from 197 countries. This year, countries will be able to present their national climate action plans, which have been updated since the Paris Agreement (2015), and which must be submitted in early 2025.