URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT MARINE ENVIRONMENT TO BE REVIEWED

NEXT YEAR AT HIGH-LEVEL MEETING INITIATED BY UNEP

NEW YORK, 19 November (UNEP) -- The negative effects of land-based activities on seas and coasts are growing both in scale and type, and are increasingly damaging the environment, scientists are warning.

The subject will be discussed at a meeting in Montreal next week of senior representatives, including environment ministers, of more than 100 governments, and various international organizations, and private sector groups.  The meeting, from 26 to 30 November, has been initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  It will be the first review meeting of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.

In a report, produced as a contribution to the meeting, some of the world's leading marine scientists call for “urgent action” to address the most serious problems associated with land-based activities.  With a warning that, “the economic costs of failing to take action to control land-based activities are enormous”, they single out sewage, the physical alteration and destruction of habitat, excessive nutrient inputs and changes in sediment flows, as top priorities for action.

The scientists say that the root causes of the marine environmental damage are poverty, poorly managed social and economic development, and unsustainable consumption patterns.  The report “Protecting the Oceans from Land-based Activities” was jointly produced by the United Nations sponsored Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection.

“The oceans cover 71 per cent of our planet's surface, regulate its climate, and provide its ultimate waste disposal system.  And, yet, our species continues to treat them as our common sewer”, said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director.  “Marine and coastal ecosystems are of vital importance to human well-being.  Their value has been estimated at around $13 trillion.  This is equal to one half of annual global GNP.”  “Yet, we continue to treat coasts and oceans as if they were not an important economic resource for developing and developed countries alike.”

In Montreal, ministers and other senior government officials will review an action plan on sewage.  Known as the Strategic Action Plan on Municipal Wastewater, it might serve as a model for other key pollutants.

For information about the Montreal meeting, see http://www.gpa.unep.org/igr.  For press background information, see http://www.gpa.unep.org/igr/media.htm.  For further information please contact:  Robert Bisset (in Montreal from 23 November), UNEP Press Officer, mobile: +33-6-2272-5842, e-mail:  robert.bisset@unep.fr; or Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer, New York, Tel:  +1-212-963-8094, e-mail: info@nyo.unep.org.