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Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development
(IISD)
Vol. 25 No. 26
Monday, 12 June 2006
SEVENTH MEETING OF THE UNITED NATIONS
OPEN-ENDED INFORMAL CONSULTATIVE PROCESS ON OCEANS AND THE LAW OF THE
SEA:
12-16 JUNE 2006
The seventh meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal
Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (Consultative
Process or UNICPOLOS) opens today at UN headquarters in New York, and
will continue until 16 June 2006. During the week, delegates will convene
in plenary sessions to: exchange views on areas of concern and actions
needed, including on issues discussed at previous meetings; discuss
cooperation and coordination on oceans issues, especially as they relate
to ecosystem approaches and oceans; and identify issues that could benefit
from attention in future work of the General Assembly on oceans and the
law of the sea. A discussion panel will be held to consider ecosystem
approaches and oceans. The recommendations stemming from the meeting will
be forwarded to the General Assembly at its 61st session for consideration
under its agenda item entitled “Oceans and the law of the sea.”
A
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LAW OF THE SEA AND THE CONSULTATIVE PROCESS
On 1 November
1967, Malta’s Ambassador to the UN, Arvid Pardo, asked the nations of the
world to recognize a looming conflict that could devastate the oceans. In
a speech to General Assembly, he called for “an effective international
regime over the seabed and the ocean floor beyond a clearly defined
national jurisdiction.” The speech set in motion a process that spanned 15
years and saw the creation of the UN Seabed Committee, the signing of a
treaty banning nuclear weapons on the seabed, the adoption of the
declaration by the General Assembly that all resources of the seabed
beyond the limits of national jurisdiction are the common heritage of
mankind and the convening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human
Environment. These were some of the factors that led to the convening of
the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea during which the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted.
UNCLOS:
Opened for signature on 10 December 1982, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, at the
third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS sets forth the rights
and obligations of States regarding the use of the oceans, their
resources, and the protection of the marine and coastal environment. The
Convention, which entered into force on 16 November 1994, is supplemented
by the 1994 Deep Seabed Mining Agreement, and the 1995 Agreement for the
Implementation of the Provisions of UNCLOS relating to the Conservation
and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks
(UNFSA).
UNCED:
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was
held in June 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, the
programme of action adopted in Rio, addresses “the protection of the
oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and
coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their
living resources.” This remains the fundamental programme of action for
achieving sustainable development of oceans and seas.
UNGA
RESOLUTION 54/33: On 24 November 1999, the General Assembly adopted
resolution 54/33 on the results of the review undertaken by the Commission
on Sustainable Development at its seventh session on the theme of “Oceans
and seas.” In this resolution, the General Assembly established an
open-ended informal consultative process to facilitate the annual review
of developments in oceans affairs. The General Assembly decided that the
Consultative Process would consider the Secretary-General’s annual reports
on oceans and the law of the sea, and suggest particular issues to be
considered by the General Assembly, with an emphasis on identifying areas
where intergovernmental and inter-agency coordination and cooperation
should be enhanced. The resolution further established the framework
within which meetings of the Consultative Process would be organized, and
decided that the General Assembly would review the effectiveness and
utility of the Consultative Process at its 57th session.
UNICPOLOS-1
to 3: The first three meetings of the Consultative Process were
co-chaired by Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa) and Alan Simcock (UK). Each
meeting identified issues to be suggested and elements to be proposed to
the General Assembly, and highlighted issues that could benefit from its
attention in its future work. The first meeting of the Consultative
Process (30 May-2 June 2000, New York) held discussion panels addressing
fisheries, and the impacts of marine pollution and degradation. The second
meeting of the Consultative Process (7-11 May 2001, New York) focused on
marine science and technology, and coordination and cooperation in
combating piracy and armed robbery at sea. The third meeting of the
Consultative Process (8-15 April 2002, New York) held discussion panels on
the protection and preservation of the marine environment, capacity
building, regional cooperation and coordination, and integrated oceans
management.
WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The
World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD) (26 August - 4 September 2002,
Johannesburg, South Africa) negotiated and adopted two main documents:
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and the Johannesburg
Declaration on Sustainable Development. Among the 11 chapters of the JPOI,
which provide a framework for action to implement sustainable development
commitments, Chapter IV on “Protecting and Managing the Natural Resource
Base of Economic and Social Development” contains several paragraphs on
the sustainable development of oceans that address, inter alia,
water pollution prevention for the protection of ecosystems; improved
cooperation and coordination on oceans and coastal issues within the UN
system; and the application by 2010 of the ecosystem approach to marine
areas.
UNGA
RESOLUTION 57/141: On 12 December 2002, the 57th session of the
General Assembly adopted resolution 57/141 on “Oceans and the law of the
sea.” The General Assembly welcomed the previous work of the Consultative
Process, extended it for an additional three years, and decided to review
the Consultative Process’ effectiveness and utility at its 60th session.
UNICPOLOS 4-5: These two meetings were co-chaired by
Philip Burgess (Australia) and Amb. Felipe Paolillo (Uruguay). The fourth
meeting of the Consultative Process (2-6 June 2003, New York) adopted
recommendations on safety of navigation, the protection of vulnerable
marine ecosystems, and cooperation and coordination on oceans issues. The
fifth meeting of the Consultative Process (7-11 June 2004,
New York) adopted recommendations on new sustainable uses of the
oceans, including the conservation and management of the biological
diversity of the seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
UNICPOLOS 6: The sixth meeting of the Consultative Process (6-10 June 2005,
New York), co-chaired by Philip Burgess (Australia) and Amb. Cristián
Maquieira (Chile), adopted recommendations on fisheries and their
contribution to sustainable development, and considered the issue of
marine debris.
INTERSESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
OCEAN POLICY SUMMIT 2005:
This Summit (11-13
October 2005, Lisbon, Portugal) took as its theme, “Integrated Ocean
Policy: National and Regional Experiences, Prospects and Emerging
Practices.” Delegates met for eight panel discussions on various aspects
of integrated ocean policy, including: the growing interest in integrated
national and regional ocean policies; learning lessons from countries that
have made the most progress to date; achieving cross-sectoral
harmonization of ocean use and agencies; identifying principles for
governance; and implementing an integrated policy and factoring in
operational and financial considerations.
UNGA
RESOLUTION 60/30: On 29 November 2005, the 60th session of the General
Assembly adopted resolution 60/30 on “Oceans and the law of the sea”,
which extended the work of the Consultative Process for an additional
three years. The General Assembly also requested that the
Secretary-General convene the seventh meeting of the Consultative Process
from 12-16 June 2006, and recommended that the meeting focus its
discussions on the topic “Ecosystem approaches and oceans.”
The General
Assembly also endorsed the conclusions of the second international GMA
meeting and decided to launch the start-up phase of the “Assessment of
Assessments” to be completed within two years, as a preparatory stage
towards the establishment of the regular process. In addition the
resolution establishes an organizational arrangement that includes an
Ad Hoc Steering Group to oversee the execution of the “Assessment
of Assessments”, two UN agencies (UNEP and Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of UNESCO) to co-lead the process, and a group of
experts.
THIRD GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON OCEANS,
COASTS AND ISLANDS: At this conference (24-27 January 2006, Paris, France),
participants engaged in a panel on “the status of oceans and coastal
ecosystems and peoples and operationalizing ecosystem-based management”
and addressed the topic of ecosystem management and integrated management
of oceans and coasts, including regional cooperation, for input into
UNICPOLOS 7.
WORKING GROUP ON MARINE BIODIVERSITY BEYOND AREAS OF
NATIONAL JURISDICTION: The Ad Hoc
Open-ended Informal Working Group of the General Assembly to study issues
relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological
diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (13-17 February 2006, New
York) agreed on the need for short-term measures to address illegal,
unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices
as the most urgent threats to marine biodiversity, as well as
institutional coordination.
FINAL MEETING
OF THE HIGH SEAS TASK FORCE: The High Seas Task Force (2-3 March 2006,
Paris, France), which was established by a decision of the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development Round Table on Sustainable
Development held on 6 June 2003, discussed and launched the Task Force’s
final report containing its proposals for action. The report entitled
“Closing the Net – Stopping Illegal Fishing on the High Seas,” identifies
key measures that members will immediately begin to implement to address
IUU fishing. It also proposes measures that members will endeavor to
implement in collaboration with the wider global community to achieve more
comprehensive solutions to this problem.
UNICPOLOS
INFORMAL PREPARATORY MEETING: An informal preparatory meeting for
UNICPOLOS-7 was held at UN headquarters in New York on 16 March 2006.
Following this meeting and consultations with country delegations, a draft
format and provisional agenda for the meeting was prepared
(A/AC.259/L.7).
FISH STOCKS REVIEW
CONFERENCE: The Review Conference of the UNFSA (22-26 May 2006, New
York) adopted a final report that includes recommendations to achieve,
inter alia: the integration of ecosystem considerations into
fisheries management; the urgent reduction of the world’s fishing capacity
to levels commensurate with the sustainability of fish stocks; urgent
strengthening of regional fisheries management organizations’ mandates to
implement precautionary and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management;
development of a legally binding instrument on minimum standards for port
State measures and a comprehensive global register of fishing vessels; and
expanded assistance to developing
countries.
This issue of the Earth
Negotiations Bulletin © <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is written and
edited by Alice Bisiaux, Robynne Boyd, Andrew Brooke, and James Van
Alstine. The Digital Editor is Dan Birchall. The Editors are Alexis
Conrad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and Pamela S.
Chasek, Ph.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. The Director of
IISD Reporting Services is Langston James "Kimo" Goree VI <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. The Sustaining
Donors of the Bulletin are the Government of the United
States of America (through the Department of State Bureau of Oceans
and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs), the
Government of Canada (through CIDA), the Swiss Agency for
Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), the United Kingdom
(through the Department for International Development - DFID), the
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Germany
(through the German Federal Ministry of Environment - BMU, and the
German Federal Ministry of Development Cooperation - BMZ), the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission
(DG-ENV) and the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory
General Directorate for Nature Protection. General Support for the
Bulletin during 2006 is provided by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the Government of Australia, the
Austrian Federal Ministry for the Environment, the New Zealand
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, SWAN International, the
Japanese Ministry of Environment (through the Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies - IGES) and the Japanese Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry (through the Global Industrial and
Social Progress Research Institute - GISPRI). Funding for
translation of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin into French
has been provided by the International Organization of the
Francophonie (IOF) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Funding for the translation of the Earth Negotiations
Bulletin into Spanish has been provided by the Ministry of
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Negotiations Bulletin are those of the authors and do not
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