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OSPAR
Convention + OSPAR Commission
Convention
The 1992Convention
on the Protection of the Marine Environment of North-East Atlantic
— OSPAR Convention — replaced the 1972 Oslo Convention
(pollution by dumping) and the 1974 Paris Convention (pollution
from land-based sources). The OSPAR Convention requires that
Contracting Parties 'shall take all possible steps to prevent
and eliminate pollution and shall take the necessary measures
to protect the maritime area against the adverse effects of
human activities so as to safeguard human health and to conserve
marine ecosystems and, when practicable, restore marine areas
which have been adversely affected.' The detailed provisions
for controlling pollution from different sources and protecting
ecosystems and biodiversity are set out in the five annexes
to the Convention. OSPAR Annex III - on
the prevention and elimination of pollution from offshore sources.
OSPAR's Offshore
Oil and Gas Industry Strategy.
The
OSPAR Quality Status Report - OSPAR
QSR - published in 2000 is the assessment by the OSPAR
Commission of the environmental quality of the North-East
Atlantic. The QSR 2000 is based on five reports (regional
QSRs) prepared for the Arctic Waters, the Greater North Sea,
the Celtic Seas, the Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast, and
the Wider Atlantic.
Commission
The OSPAR
Commission is the Executive body of the Convention. At
the 1998 Ministerial Meeting of the OSPAR Commission, the
Ministers adopted the Sintra
Statement setting out the political impetus for future
action by the Commission. It includes a section related to
the environmental impacts of shipping stating, inter alia,
that the
OSPAR countries will co-operate especially in the work of
the International Maritime Organization, to tackle threats
to the marine environment from shipping through promoting
better waste reception facilities and their more effective
use including harmonised arrangements to remove economic,
administrative or organisational incentives for ships not
to use port waste reception facilities.
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Bonn
Agreement
The
Bonn
Agreement is an international agreement by North Sea coastal
states, with the EU, to:
- offer
mutual assistance and co-operation in combating pollution;
- execute
surveillance as an aid to detecting and combating pollution
and to prevent violations of anti-pollution regulations.
The
Bonn Agreement is a network of professionals with responsibility
for adequate pollution response. The members of the Bonn Agreement
are Belgium, Denmark, European Community, France, Germany,
the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.
As
part of the co-operation within the agreement the Bonn
Agreement Counter Pollution Manual has been elaborated.
It contains information needed for counter-pollution operations
and general reference material concerning policy/strategy
of pollution combating. The Contracting Parties to the Agreement
also co-operate on
aerial surveillance over the North Sea with the purpose
to detect spillages of oil and other harmful substances that
can threaten the marine environment of the North Sea. These
spillages caused by accident or made in contravention of international
conventions will be registered and if possible sampled both
from sea surface and on board the suspected offender. As part
of the agreement endeavours are also made to carry out regular
exercises in order to strengthen the operational co-operation
in pollution combating operations.
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Copenhagen
Agreement
 .
The 1971 Copenhagen
Agreement (revised in 1993) between Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden, addresses marine oil pollution. The Contracting
Parties agree to cooperate on surveillance, investigations,
reporting, securing of evidence, combatting and assistance in
combatting, as well as general exchange of information in order
to protect the marine environment from pollution by oil or other
hazardous substances. (Site only available in Swedish. Text
of the agreement available in Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian
and Swedish). |
North
Sea Conference
The
Fifth International Conference
on the Protection of the North Sea (NSC5) was held in April
2002. Previous Conferences took place in 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993,
1995 and 1997. These Conferences are political events (Environment
Ministers) for a broad and comprehensive assessment of the measures
needed to protect the North Sea environment. The results are
recorded in the Conference Ministerial
Declarations. Matters
related to the environmental impact of shipping, as well as
to pollution from offshore installations, have been included
in all of these Declarations, including the one from NSC5 (the
Bergen
Declaration. The next North Sea Conference will be held
in Sweden in 2006, with "Shipping and the Environment"
as the main theme. |
Wadden
Sea Declaration • Wadden Sea Secretariat
The
Joint
Declaration on the Protection of the Wadden Sea was adopted
by the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark at a high-level conference
in 1982. In the Declaration, the countries declared their intention
to coordinate their activities and measures for the protection
of the Wadden Sea. Since then seven more high-level conferences
have been held (the last of which in October 2001), and the
next one is scheduled for 2005. In 2002. major parts of the
the German, Dutch an Danish Wadden Sea was designated as a Particularly
Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA)
in accordance with the MARPOL Convention.
The
task of the Common
Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) for the Trilateral Cooperation
on the Protection of the Wadden Sea is to support, initiate,
facilitate and coordinate the activities of the collaboration.
See, e.g., the Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan; Environmental Impact
Assessments; Monitoring and Assessments; Management, Publications;
etc.
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Rhine
Convention • ICPR
The
International
Convention for the Protection of the Rhine replaced the
1963 Bern Convention and forms the basis for the future co-operation
between the Rhine states. According to the Convention, the dumping
of garbage from shipping is prohibited.
The
targets of the International
Commission for the Protection of the Rhine, ICPR —are
sustainable development of the entire Rhine ecosystem; to
guarantee the use of Rhine water for drinking water production;
the improvement of the sediment quality in order to enable
the use or disposal of dredged material without causing environmental
harm; overall flood prevention and environmentally sound flood
protection; improvement of the North Sea quality in accordance
with other measures aimed at the protection of this marine
area.
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Paris
Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control
The
Paris Memorandum
of Understanding on Port State Control consists of 19 participating
maritime administrations and covers the waters of the European
coastal states and the North Atlantic basin from North America
to Europe. It aims at eliminating the operation of sub-standard
ships through a harmonized system of port state control. Annually,
over 18,000 inspections take place on board foreign ships in
the Paris MoU ports, ensuring that these ships meet international
safety and environmental standards, and that crew members have
adequate living and working conditions. See, for example, a
list of banned ships (ships that jump detention or fail to call
at an indicated repair yard are banned: these ships will be
refused access to any port in the region of the MoU), as well
as a list with photos of number of rustbucket vessels. Similar
MoUs have been developed for the Mediterranean, Asia (the Tokyo
MoU), Latin America (the Vina del Mar MoU), and Indian Ocean
(Indian Ocean MoU). |
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses
and International Lakes • UNECE
Convention:
The
UN ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) Convention
of the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and
International Lakes (Water Convention) is intended to strengthen
national measures for the protection and ecologically sound
management of transboundary surface waters and groundwaters.
The Convention obliges Parties to prevent, control and reduce
water pollution from point and non-point sources. It also includes
provisions for monitoring, research and development, consultations,
warning and alarm systems, mutual assistance, institutional
arrangements, and the exchange and protection of information,
as well as public access to information. There is a Protocol
to the Convention on water
and health, and one on
civil liability.
Commission:
The primary goal of the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is to encourage
greater economic cooperation among its member States. It focuses
on economic analysis, environment and human settlements, statistics,
sustainable energy, trade, industry and enterprise development,
timber and transport. UNECE activities include policy analysis,
development of conventions, regulations and standards, and
technical assistance. It has 55 member States, and over 70
international professional organizations and other non-governmental
organizations take part in UNECE activities. The UNECE provides
the Secretariat for several environmental conventions, including
the Convention of the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes (see more on the UNECE
Environment
and Human Settlements Division).
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UNEP
Regional Office for Europe
UNEP's
Regional Office for Europe promotes intergovernmental policy
dialogue and regional cooperation, increases national capacity
for environmental management and response emergencies, raises
awareness and enhances information exchange, and translates
global policies into regional action. |
Peripheral
Maritime Regions of Europe, CPMR
The
membership of the Peripheral
Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR, Conférence des
Régions Périphériques Maritimes d'Europe)
includes 150 regions from 27 states (EU members and others),
all located in one of Europe's main sea basins. They have chosen
to open up towards the international scene and join transnational
cooperation networks as a way of strengthening their competitiveness.
The Regions of the CPMR are sub-divided into 7 geographical
commissions for the Atlantic Arc, the Balkans, ilands, the inter-Mediterranean,
the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Black Sea. |
European
Sea Ports Organization, ESPO
The
European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) aims at influencing
public policy in the European Union and to achieve a safe, efficient
and environmentally sustainable European port sector, operating
as a key element of a transport industry where free and undistorted
market conditions prevail, as far as practicable. According
to ESPO, ports are concerned about the environment. ESPO believes
that maritime transport is central to the issue of sustainable
development within Europe. The ports support measures to reduce
marine pollution and discourage dumping of waste at sea. See
the 2000
ESPO Waste Management Plan For Ship Generated Waste.
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European
Union for Coastal Conservation, EUCC
In
the North Sea region, the European
Union for Coastal Conservation has national branches in
France, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Spain.
The project European Regions for a Safe and Clean Coast (ERSCC)
was designed to promote cooperation and the exchange of information
amongst Local Authorities and other interests in preventing
coastal pollution and disasters, and was carried out in 1995-1996
by the EUCC and partner organizations. |
Forum
Skagerrak
The
Forum
Skagerrak is a common initiative of the Danish, Norwegian
and Swedish regions surrounding the Skagerrak area to find solutions
to prioritized environmental problems where co-operation can
lead to effective measures. Two conferences were organized within
the framework of the first phase of the Interreg-financed Skagerrak
Forum I project (1999-2001). Two quality status reports were
presented as background documents for the second conference
in 2001. One
of these, "The
Skagerrak - social and economic activities and regulative framework"
includes a comprehensive review of the marine oil pollution
problems in the Skagerrak region. In the conclusions from the
2001 conference, it is identified as a priority issue for further
work. • In the second Interreg project, Forum
Skagerrak II (2003-2007), activities include "Comparison
of techniques for port reception of waste and of methods to
encourage use of port reception facilities (to optimise implementation
of new EU Directive)", and "Pilot project to install
best practice waste reception technology at (minimum) one port
in each country. Implementation of best practice methods to
encourage use of port reception facilities in (minimum) one
port in each country". |
Local
Authorities International Environmental Organisation (KIMO)
Local
Authorities International Environmental Organisation (Kommunenes
Internasjonale Miljöorganisation; KIMO) is an international
association of local authorities, which was formally founded
in 1990 to work towards cleaning up pollution in the North Sea.
It has over 100 members in 8 countries including the United
Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Faeroes Islands, the Netherlands,
and the Republic of Ireland, with associate members in Germany.
KIMO holds NGO status at the North Sea Ministerial Conferences;
the Committee of North Sea Senior Officials of the OSPAR Convention;
and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), as part of
the WWF Delegation. KIMO's primary objective is the cleaning
up of the existing pollution in Northern Seas and coastal waters,
of preventing future pollution and of working to preserve and
enhance them and to leave them in a fit and healthy state for
the well-being of future generations. |
North
Sea Commission
The
North Sea Commission
was founded in 1989 to facilitate and enhance partnerships between
regions which manage the challenges and opportunities presented
by the North Sea. The North Sea Commission has decided that
its activities must be action orientated, involving co-operation
programmes, research activities, funding applications, and joint
policy statements which bring positive benefits to the people
of the North Sea Basin. It is one of five Commissions under
the umbrella of CPMR (the Conference of Peripheral Maritime
Regions). The aim of the thematic group on environment —
NSC Environment Group (NSCEG) — is "to progress
key environmental issues, as they affect local authorities bordering
the North Sea, by co-ordinating and initiating projects involving
all members, or on a partnership basis. The NSCEG, through the
NSC Executive Committee, will attempt to influence future research
and future EU and national policies. The NSCEG will also take
steps to encourage a heightened awareness of the North Sea as
an important ecological area. |
Seas at Risk
Seas
at Risk (SAR) is an independent non-governmental federation
of national and international environmental organizations concerned
with the protection and restoration of the marine environment.
SAR is campaigning to effect international political change
on issues as diverse as overfishing and fishing-related damage
to the marine environment; pollution from shipping; the harmful
effects of offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation;
species and habitat protection; and the introduction of hazardous
substances into the marine environment. SAR
is an official observer in the North Sea Conference process;
the OSPAR Commission; and the UN IMO. News on marine issues
of concerns, and NGO activities, are published monthly in the
SAR
Bulletin. |
Coastwatch
Coastwatch
Europe started in 1987 in Ireland and became an international
network in 23 European countries of environmental groups, universities
and other educational establishments, who in turn work with
local groups and individuals around the coast of Europe. Common
aims of Coastwatch have been the protection and sustainable
use of our coastal resources, and informed public participation
in environmental planning and management, including Coastal
Zone Management. See the Harbour
Waste Management Database , an inventory of waste reception
facilities and management practise in harbours of the South
Irish Sea (an Interreg Clean Seas project). |
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Agreements