Increasing international protection of marine environment

Identifying priorities for expanded international cooperation on marine environment protection

Description

Increasing international protection of the marine environment involves implementing and enforcing global agreements, standards, and collaborative actions to prevent pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss in oceans and seas. This strategy prioritizes coordinated monitoring, information sharing, capacity building, and compliance mechanisms among nations to address transboundary threats, restore degraded ecosystems, and ensure sustainable use of marine resources, thereby remedying specific environmental harms and safeguarding ocean health for future generations.

Context

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends strengthening international, including regional, cooperation and coordination.

Implementation

Since the Hague Declaration of the North Sea Conference in 1990, substantial further progress has been made in converting the political initiatives launched by the Bremen, London and The Hague Declarations into provisions of international and European Union law. These new and comprehensive requirements have transformed the approach to the protection of the North Sea in many fields by establishing or substantially extending legally binding frameworks, such as the OSPAR Convention. A marked feature of these frameworks is their wide scope, requiring thorough reviews of the relevant aspects of the environment and the development of comprehensive programmes.