PRESS CONFERENCE BY WORLD COMMISSION ON OCEANS

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY WORLD COMMISSION ON OCEANS

A report on the state of the world's oceans will be published next year by the Independent World Commission on the Oceans, the Chairman of the Commission and the former President of Portugal, Mario Soares, announced at a Headquarters press conference this morning. The Commission, established in December 1995 in Japan to promote awareness of the problems facing the world's oceans, consists of 40 members from countries throughout the world, including scientists, policy-makers and other oceanic and environmental experts.

The Commission's report, which will be presented in Lisbon in the fall of 1998, will deal with such topics as: security and peaceful uses of the oceans; equitable access to ocean resources; preservation of the oceans, especially in regard to fisheries; and new science and technology available for the maintenance and protection of the oceans. It will also focus on how to increase and promote knowledge about the oceans and ways that all countries could participate in their management.

The oceans were an essential component for the survival of the planet and they had suffered from a number of ecological disasters over the last few years, Mr. Soares continued. In order to guarantee the survival of the earth, the world must preserve the oceans. It was important, then, to not only address current problems facing the oceans, but protect them for future generations. The management of the oceans had traditionally been seen as the responsibility of States and governments, but the Commission believed that everyone should participate in protecting the ocean resources.

Mr. Soares said he came to the United Nations to bring the work of the Commission to the attention of the Secretary General, as well as the Organization's agencies. The goal of the Commission was not to duplicate the work of any United Nations agencies, but to contribute to their work.

During his meeting with the Secretary-General yesterday, Mr. Soares said he had proposed the creation of a forum that would have representatives from States, private companies and the scientific community to periodically reassess the situation of oceans and issues affecting them. The forum would not deal with specific issues, but address the overall situation of oceans.

How immediate were the problems of the oceans and what could be done to make people realize that there was a crisis? a correspondent asked. Mr. Soares answered that the ecological problems of the oceans might not be that slow in developing, and some were very immediate. With the problem of global warming, for example, many cities around the world were experiencing problems due to rising sea levels, including Venice, Italy.

Oceans Commission Press Conference - 2 - 4 November 1997

He added that five years had passed since the environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro, which was meant to call attention to the world's ecological problems. Since 1992, however, there had been little or no action on the recommendations made at the conference, and the problems facing the world's oceans had only become more urgent. The Commission hoped to affect public opinion, so it would encourage governments to address the situation of the oceans.

Another correspondent asked Mr. Soares' opinion of the Secretary- General's proposal to make the Trusteeship Council into a "caretaker of the global commons". He further asked if the world needed a specific body to legislate how the oceans should be cared for. Mr. Soares said he did not want to create a new organization or one that would compete with the agencies that already exist. As an independent organization, the Commission only wanted to raise the alarm and make the public aware of the situation. As for the changes and reforms that the Secretary-General had proposed, he supported them fully.

When asked to comment on the deep-sea mining provisions included in the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, he said that topic was one of the Commission's concerns, and the report would deal with that issue extensively.

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