INFORMAL CONSULTATIVE PROCESS ON OCEAN AFFAIRS TO HOLD THIRD MEETING

AT HEADQUARTERS, 8 - 15 APRIL

To Focus on Protection, Preservation of Marine Environment; Capacity-

Building, Regional Cooperation and Coordination, Integrated Ocean Management

The Third Meeting of the United Nations Consultative Process on Ocean Affairs will focus its one-week session, to be held at Headquarters from 8 to

15 April, on the protection and preservation of the marine environment; and on capacity-building, regional cooperation and coordination, and integrated ocean management. 

Those issues, particularly with respect to capacity-building, were viewed by the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session (document A/RES/56/12) as important cross-cutting issues to address overall aspects of ocean affairs, such as marine science and the transfer of technology, sustainable fisheries, the degradation of the marine environment and safety of navigation.

The General Assembly also underlined once again the essential need for capacity-building to ensure that all States, especially developing countries, and in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, were able both to implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and to benefit from the sustainable development of the oceans and seas.

With respect to the protection of the marine environment, the General Assembly, at its fifty-sixth session, expressed its deep concern at the degradation of the marine environment, particularly as a result of land-based activities.  It emphasized the need for international cooperation and for a coordinated approach at the national and regional levels to this problem, bringing together the many different economic sectors involved.  It reaffirmed the importance of ensuring the full implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (document A/51/116, annex II).

Background Information

The Consultative Process was established by the General Assembly (resolution 54/33 of 24 November 1999) to facilitate the annual review by the Assembly of developments in ocean affairs.  It is to consider the Secretary-General’s report on oceans and the law of the sea, and suggest particular issues to be considered by the Assembly, with an emphasis on identifying areas where coordination and cooperation at the intergovernmental and inter-agency levels should be enhanced.  A perceived lack of coordination and cooperation in addressing ocean issues, unde

the legal framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, has been identified by the Secretary-General as one factor which has prevented the emergence of more efficient and results-oriented ocean policies.

The United Nations open-ended informal Consultative Process is intended to carry out three interrelated tasks:  (a) to study developments in ocean affairs consistent with the legal framework provided by the Convention and the goals of chapter 17 of Agenda 21; (b) against the backdrop of overall developments of all relevant ocean issues, to identify particular issues to be considered by the General Assembly; and (c) while identifying such issues, to place emphasis on areas where coordination and cooperation at the intergovernmental and inter-agency levels should be enhanced.

At its first meeting, held at Headquarters from 30 May to 2 June 2000, the Consultative Process focused on:  responsible fisheries and illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries; and economic and social impacts of marine pollution and degradation, especially in coastal areas.

At its second meeting, also held at Headquarters from 7 to 11 May 2001, the Consultative Process focused on marine science and technology, as well as on piracy and armed robbery at sea.

Pursuant to resolution 54/33, the General Assembly will undertake a review of the effectiveness and utility of the Consultative Process later this year at its fifty-seventh session

Report of Secretary-General

In his annual report on oceans and the law of the sea (document A/57/57), made available for consideration by the third session of the Consultative Process, the Secretary-General noted that 20 years after the adoption of the Convention and 10 years after the adoption of Agenda 21, including its chapter 17, the accomplishments are impressive.  But the challenges are also formidable -– of implementing the legal and programmatic frameworks, of executing actions, at the global, regional and national levels, to realize benefits from these frameworks. Many countries are finding their awareness and knowledge to be scanty and unfocused, their resources scarce, their capacity limited and their means of implementation inadequate.

The Secretary-General stressed that in this anniversary year, the international community should focus its efforts on actions that would contribute to the realization of optimal benefits from the world’s oceans and seas, at the same time, minimizing the problems that have arisen, especially with regard to the limitations in harnessing the marine potential and the degradation of the marine environment and resources.

Protections and Preservation of Marine Environment

In his report, the Secretary-General noted that the Convention created a comprehensive, binding and directly enforceable regime for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, providing for general legal obligations coupled with a call for the development and implementation of detailed rules dealing with specific concerns. At the same time, it establishes a balance between economic development, social development and environmental protection, and in this sense foresees the concept of sustainable development.

In his report to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General noted that land-based sources are responsible for 80 per cent of the pollution of the oceans and affect the most productive areas of the marine environment.  In addition, the contribution of dumping to the overall input of potential pollutants in the oceans is estimated at 10 per cent.  However, he noted that control of pollution of the marine environment by dumping was very much dependent on finding solutions to land-based sources of marine pollution and proper waste management, in general.  The Secretary-General also identified a number of other sources and activities contributing to marine pollution, including pollution from vessels, pollution from seabed activities under national jurisdiction and pollution from seabed activities outside national jurisdiction (the Area).

With respect to efforts to combat pollution, the Secretary-General noted that cooperation at the regional level was an extremely effective, in many cases, the most effective way, to protect and preserve the marine environment:  this was the basis for the development of its regional seas programme by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  The Convention highlighted regional cooperation and chapter 17 of Agenda 21, specifically pointed to the UNEP regional seas programme as a significant activity promoting the objectives of sustainable development of the oceans and seas and their resources.

At the third meeting of the Consultative Process, participants are expected to address the obligation imposed by the Convention on States to act to protect and preserve the marine environment, while keeping in mind the sovereign right of States to exploit their natural resources pursuant to their environmental policies.  Issues of economic development, social development and environmental protection, as interdependent as they might be, will also be addressed.

Participants will be asked to address, in particular, the way in which an integrated approach to the protection and preservation of the marine environment could be achieved; the international cooperation and coordination needed to establish and implement common international standards for activities that may pollute the marine environment; and the practical measures needed to underpin States’ activities in protecting and preserving the marine environment.

Participants at the Consultative Process will be asked to address, in a more specific manner, two important questions, namely, how to improve existing arrangements for the collection and sharing of data, and for the production of integrated assessments to diagnose the problems of the marine environment in order to ensure that policy-makers and managers are aware of major problems as they emerge. And where international cooperation and coordination are needed to address a problem, do existing arrangements provide sufficient links from diagnosis to the action that is needed as part of an integrated ecosystem-based approach to the management of oceans and coastal areas?  If not, how can this linkage be improved?

Also, the Consultative Process will focus on actions that could be taken at the global or regional level to improve the implementation and enforcement of international rules, standards and recommended practices and procedures, as appropriate, for the specific sectors for which they are foreseen in the Convention.

Capacity-building, Regional Cooperation, Integrated Ocean Management

The second area of focus for the third session of the Consultative Process will be “capacity-building, regional cooperation and coordination, and integrated ocean management, as important cross-cutting issues to address ocean affairs, such as marine science and the transfer of technology, sustainable fisheries, the degradation of the marine environment and the safety of navigation”.

Agenda 21 stated that “the ability of a country to follow sustainable development paths was determined to a large extent by the capacity of its people and institutions, as well as by its ecological and geographical conditions. Specifically, capacity-building encompassed the country’s human, scientific, technological, organizational, institutional and resource capabilities”.  For its part, the Convention, though it did not use the phrase “capacity-building”, contains over 25 references to the need to help developing States and take their concerns into account.  It places considerable emphasis on the regional level as a focus for international cooperation.  The main fields for such cooperation include fisheries, shipping emergencies, marine environment, and marine scientific research and transfer of technology.

For its part, the Consultative Process will be expected to address a number of issues and questions with respect to capacity-building, regional cooperation and integrated ocean management.  These issues includethe question of whethersufficiently comprehensive programmes were in place for international cooperation to support the building of all these capacities, and the investment in the related capital assets; and whether bilateral and multilateral development programmes and institutions give sufficient priority to enabling developing States to take advantage of their rights and to fulfil their obligations under the Convention. And whether any specific types of capacities and capital assets need increased attention.

With respect to integrated ocean management, the Consultative Process will be asked to identify how the concept of integrated ocean management can best be developed and applied, taking into account the ideas embodied in Agenda 21.  How, for example, should the concept of integrated ocean management be applied in a system that is necessarily focused on the different sectors of human activities that involve the oceans and seas?  And how should the concept of integrated ocean management be applied at the regional level, where many aspects of the management of human activities affecting the oceans and seas are necessarily focused?

It will be recalled that an integrated approach to the seas is inherent in the Convention, where the third preambular paragraph emphasizes that the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole.  In addition, chapter 17 of Agenda 21 includes a number of objectives in this respect, including providing for an integrated policy and decision-making process, concentrating on well-defined issues concerning coastal management, and providing access for individuals and groups to relevant information and opportunities for consultation and participation in planning and decision-making at appropriate levels.

The Consultative Process is co-chaired by Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa) and Alan Simcock (United Kingdom).