International Catalan Institute for Peace ICIP

Conflicts, peace and sustainability in the Mediterranean

Factors including access to and control of natural resources – such as water and petrol - and demographic factors determine the development of and possibilities for peace in the Mediterranean region, according to the speakers at the seminars held on 23 September at the Institut Europeu de la Mediterránia (IEMed). The seminars, entitled “Conflicts, peace and sustainability in the Mediterranean”, were organised by the ICIP, the IEMED and the CAD. The director of the ICIP, Tica Font, stressed that 40% of the current conflicts in the world are related to natural resources, and proposed that the institutions work together to prevent environmental deterioration from aggravating already existing conflicts.

The gradual urban development of the southern Mediterranean and climate change will worsen the situation, according to various experts. In this respect, the ICIP President Rafael Grasa declared that he was not very optimistic about the region's future and noted that the formulas for peace used to date have not been very effective in the short term. Grasa mentioned four major challenges faced by the Mediterranean in the future: factors of instability such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, energy, security challenges and demographic challenges. In his opinion, there is a risk of North-South bipolarisation in the Mediterranean, with “mutually incompatible political, ideological and military structures based around mutual threats”.