Agenda 21, Chapter 17, Section B
Marine Environmental Protection
The main issues in this section remain relevant to current understanding of marine environmental protection although new areas of thinking are emerging.
More emphasis is now being placed on the concept of Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (IPPC).
New strategies are emerging such as Industrial Ecology and the Lifecycle Approach.
Limited geographical perspective illustrated by the absence of references to the Polar Regions.
Since this document was published a preferred concept in recent years has been for an ecosystem-based approach to marine environmental protection. For example, recognising the role of wetlands in the absorption of nutrients.
Limited scope by not considering the damaging impacts of other activities such as fishing operations
Failure to recognise the importance of stakeholder involvement and public participation in the implementation of objectives.
Although Watershed Management is mentioned, greater emphasis is being placed on approaching pollution from land-based sources using a river basin strategy, e.g. the European Union Water Framework Directive.
Response to certain issues may need to be more problem specific. Tertiary treatment may not adequately safeguard against eutrophication. Alternative and more cost-effective solutions such as deep-sea outfalls may be more effective in appropriate circumstances.
There is a general assumption of a willingness to protect the marine environment. It is now recognised that environmental education plays a key role in ensuring the success of any environmental protection programme.
While Port State Control was considered as a tool for the protection of the marine environment, it is now considered the last safety net in maritime safety and as the best means of eradicating substandard shipping which threatens the seas and oceans.
The concept of protected areas has now been extended with the development of Marine High Risk Environmental Areas. The establishment of MEHRAs is one of 103 recommendations contained in the report of Lord Donaldson's Inquiry, Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas.
Closely related to the principles of sustainable development, industrial ecology focuses on the flows of material and energy with the overall aim of increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impact. The application of industrial ecology has the most powerful effect through combined direct commercial and environmental benefits.
The basis of industrial ecology is the internalisation of environmental costs and closing the loop in the production system. The closed loop system replaces the linear approach by recognising that energy and resources have repeated use and value. The waste products can then be used as raw materials for alternative industries. A well-known example of industrial symbiosis is the Danish project at Kalundborg.
An important tool of Industrial Ecology is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which is the systematic evaluation of the environmental impacts of products and activities starting with resource extraction, distribution, use, re-use and the final disposal. If correctly applied LCA has the potential to reduce environmental impact and create improved profitability through more efficient practices.
It may be seen from the above discussion that the battle against sea-based sources of pollution has been more successful than its terrestrial counterpart. The reasons for this are not straightforward, but it would appear that a number of suggestions could be put forward.
The framework required for tackling sea-based forms of pollution has been in existence in the form of IMO for many years. This organisation has been instrumental in instigating and completing numerous programmes in this area. There also appears to be a significant amount of political will and understanding of the relevant issues.
Land-based forms of pollution tend to be chronic in nature, and therefore rarely catch the attention of the world�s media in the same manner as marine pollution. Incidents like oil spills, of which most people could name at least one, are very dramatic in nature, attracting intense media coverage, and images of oily and distraught sea-birds and marine mammals are beamed to television sets the world over.
This may go some way towards an explanation of why the will to deal with sea-based forms of pollution is so much stronger, and has met with more success. If governments were in a position to deal with land-based forms of pollution in the same voracious fashion then our future would be much brighter.
In order to continue successfully protecting the marine environment from sea-based forms of pollution, the problem of port reception facilities needs to be tackled with more enthusiasm, providing more incentives for both the shipping industry and the port authorities. This is the weakest activity of the recommended activities in this section.
IMO are making considerable advances in relation to technical co-operation between states and it will be necessary to ensure that this momentum is maintained. All that remains is to ensure that means of enforcement and compliance with various treaties and conventions are advanced, using the latest technology available, along with ensuring the highest standards of training for inspection personnel.
However, the issue of land-based forms of pollution is complicated by a variety of socio-economic issues, which need to be addressed in the first instance. According to the root causes identified by GESAMP, poverty along with poorly managed social and economic development and unsustainable consumption patterns are the root causes of marine environmental damage resulting from the negative effects of land-based activities.
The future direction for land-based activities depends on finding a solution to the root causes. Unlike the sea-based sources of pollution, there is no silver bullet solution, with the integrated approach based on some of the following suggestions.
Priority for action: GESAMP perspective of Land-based Activities
GESAMP has placed the land-based activities affecting the marine environment on a global perspective, and using the Delphi impact matrix technique, the most serious future and persistent threats have been identified, on which developing and adaptive objectives should be based:
1. Alteration and destruction of habitats and ecosystems
2. Effects of sewage on human health
3. Widespread and increased euthropication
4. Changes in sediment flows due to hydrological change
Strengthening & ratification of regional seas agreements
The transboundary nature of marine pollution means that the causes and effects must not be dealt with in geographical, social or political isolation. The UNEP regional seas frameworks, which are in place for many developing regions such as the Wider Caribbean and East Africa, require the stronger measures to encourage their adoption and ratification.
The regional seas agreements should promote more widespread identification of priorities and establish long-term targets, which can be achieved through the adoption of principles contained within adaptive management principles.
Mobilisation of Funds
An overriding criticism of the current approach of the GPA/LBA is the distribution of resources assisting efforts to reduce environmental degradation. The future of resource allocation has to move away from the current emphasis of encouraging large-scale investment, where small-scale projects are more suitable. This approach is especially applicable for developing countries where the emphasis should be on innovative and low cost solutions.
There should also be a wider recognition of the role of environmental education and training in reducing marine environmental degradation. This approach tackles the cause of environmental degradation and not the persistent symptoms. The most effective way for achieving this is by promoting the ethos of sustainable development, illustrating the benefits and long term economic prospects, as a result of rational and equitable use of coastal and marine natural resources. Part of this process depends on having a greater co-ordination with other areas such as section A of Chapter 17.
There is a need to establish a mechanism or body which deals solely with �pump priming� the North-South transfer of information and technology. The current stagnation of effort on behalf of the GPA and GEF is combined with a lack of co-ordination and the poor exchange of information between these two bodies. This must be overcome in the near future and solid foundations put in place, to allow this transfer process to occur more effectively.
Institutional capacity & enforcement
There needs to be greater integration of environmental considerations into government policy and the mandate of international institutions. An improved internal awareness and understanding of the need for environmental awareness and action will lead to improved environmental protection.
The failure of enforcement mechanisms within the policy process of all countries and particularly so in developing countries, suggests that we need to move towards a stakeholder involvement approach. There is growing need to design policy which is based on self-policing through stakeholder participation.
Precautionary Principle & Role of scientific advice
�One of the major problems in environmental policy making is differentiating between what is scientifically viable from what is politically advantageous� (Stebbing, 1992). The more widespread use of the precautionary principle is an important tool for bridging the gap between scientists and policy makers. Environmental policy has to balance the need for scientific justification with the requirement for realistic social and political outcomes. The past value of Agenda 21 was the encouragement of the precautionary approach; this needs to be continued in future.
Diffused Sources of Land-based Activities
The fear of the unknown will become increasingly important in terms of trying to quantify the impacts from land-based activities on the marine environment. As many high-income developed countries are able to afford the internalisation costs from effluent treatment, there is increasing attention on the usually difficult to monitor and control sources of contamination.
Diffused or non-point pollution have a truly global impact. The continuous release of contaminates may only become apparent when substantial harm and environmental degradation has occurred.
The threat to ecosystems is long lasting. Diffused pollution is not only difficult to control, but also even more problematic to clean up or remove the pollution after it has occurred. Diffused pollution is a historical problem in the making.