HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE TO ADOPT GLOBAL ACTION PROGRAMME AGAINST POLLUTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT
Press Release
HE/913
HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE TO ADOPT GLOBAL ACTION PROGRAMME AGAINST POLLUTION OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT
19951103 Damage from Land-Based Activities Reviewed at UNEP Gathering; United States Vice-President Speaks of 'War by Mankind' on Coastal AreasWASHINGTON, D.C., 1 November (UNEP) -- More than 100 governments today unanimously adopted the Washington Declaration on Protecting the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, as a symbol of their intention at the highest political level to protect and preserve that fragile ecosystem for present and future generations. With the adoption of the Declaration, an intergovernmental conference organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) ended its two-day high-level segment which included an address this morning by United States Vice-President Al Gore.
Before it ended on Friday (3 November), the conference will formally adopt a Global Programme of Action, described by the Vice-President as the first programme "that will lead to more sustainable interaction between mankind and the world's oceans". It has been described as an ambitious but practical undertaking.
In the Declaration adopted today, governments stressed the need for improved coordination and enhanced partnerships at the national, regional and international levels, and have called, as their common goal for sustained and effective action to deal with all land-based impacts upon the marine environment. All sectors of society would be involved in capacity-building, resource-mobilization and access to cleaner technologies.
The Washington Declaration highlights the importance of addressing at the global level the consequences for human health and the environment of two particularly important issues -- persistent organic pollutants and the inadequate treatment of waste water.
Governments have committed themselves to the development of a "global, legally binding instrument for the reduction and/or elimination of emissions, discharges and, where appropriate, the elimination of the manufacture and use" of the 12 persistent organic pollutants identified in a decision by the UNEP Governing Council last May.
On the issue of inadequate management and treatment of waste water, the Declaration asks the Executive Director of UNEP, with the assistance of other
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United Nations programmes and agencies, to prepare proposals for a plan that would address the global nature of the problem, and to promote the transfer of appropriate and affordable technology from the best available techniques to deal with it.
In his address to the meeting, Vice-President Gore noted that "there is a war being waged on our coastal environment and natural resources". Because it was being waged by mankind, it could be stopped, he said. "We have the know-how, the technology, the desire." Mr. Gore said the Global Programme of Action required a comprehensive approach that was multifaceted, balanced and accessible. Though global in scope, he said, the Programme would depend on local and national efforts that were small in scale, efficient and technologically up to date, and which embodied true partnerships.
"The only way to stop the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities is to share the solutions, just as we share the oceans", the Vice-President added. "We are all accountable for our own actions. The way in which we live today affects the way in which we live tomorrow, and the resources that sustain us are finite." The impact of land-based activities by one country affected all countries, he concluded.
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